Creative Concepts

A recent survey from eMarketer outlines both the perceived benefits and the primary concerns that business executives have about social media.  Chief among their reservations: information security and employee productivity.

Considering that 51% of the survey’s non-social media-using respondents said they “don’t know enough about” social media, their concerns about security and productivity are understandable.  From the outside, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and other tools might seem like a waste of time when compared to what executives already know works.  And without exposure to the way these tools are commonly used, it’s easy to presume that these mysterious new services can somehow derail your business if they’re used improperly.

To calm these fears, Ford’s head of social media, Scott Monty, often cites an anecdote related to him by Tactical Transparency author Shel Holtz*:

“A friend sent me a PDF of an article from a business journal in which a company expressed reservations about this new technology over which everyone seemed to be abuzz. They decided that they would restrict employees’ use of it, because of the fear of corporate secrets getting out, of insider information making its way to Wall Street, and of employees wasting their time on it. For that reason, they set up the hardware on a single station in the middle of everyone’s desks so that everyone could see how people were using it.

“That PDF was an article from a 1930s business journal and the technology was the telephone.”

Concerns about information security and lost productivity are ultimately corporate fears about control (or lack thereof).  But employees’ actions within social media channels are nothing new.  People have already been talking about their jobs for generations; all these new tools do is make that discussion easier to join, share and track.  The fear of losing control is unfounded.

Or, as Monty himself likes to add: If you don’t trust your employees enough to not damage your brand with their online actions… why did you hire them in the first place?

* Incidentally, Monty has spoken at our biennial Business Smart Tools conferences; the next BST event will take place in 2011.

When we saw one of our clients, Bigelow Tea, mentioned in The Twitter Book (by Tim O’Reilly and Sarah Milstein) as a positive example of how businesses should use Twitter, we were ecstatic.

And then we realized we’d stopped taking our own advice.

In the book, O’Reilly and Milstein applaud Bigelow Tea for using conversational tweets to direct traffic to their tea-related blog posts, rather than those generic “New Blog Post: Topic X” auto-tweets, which most users have now begun to subconsciously tune out.  Naturally, we were pleased — until we realized the Twitter Tools plugin we’d just installed on the Bigelow Tea Blog was doing precisely what The Twitter Book had lauded us for not doing, all because we hadn’t double-checked the plugin’s default checkboxes.

So we disabled it.  (The auto-tweet part, not the whole plugin.)  Our lesson?  Sometimes a compliment can help you find even more ways to improve.  (And, while you’re at it: make sure you double-check the details…)

Well we are very excited about all the good stuff coming our/your way.  As you probably know we have our Business Smart Tools conference coming up tomorrow, Tuesday May 5th.  Speakers from Bigelow Tea, Pitney Bowes, Ford and PepsiCo will present, we will feature true social media experts and we will include breakout sessions on Twitter for Business, The Power of Video, Where do you begin Online and the ROI of Social Media (and a personal thank you to our great sponsors MarketWire, Everett Hall Associates, and CitySquares!)  You can’t beat this event for social media education and excitement especially seeing that you get lunch and a great networking cocktail party thrown in!  You can still register here.

We are also excited because we are right around the corner from launching our new website!  Flash based sites were cool how long ago…we know…too long ago, and that’s why we are updating it to reflect who we are, a PR and Social Media consultancy with fluency in communication both online and off via blogs, social networks, video and more.  Can’t wait!

And finally we are so excited about our new client Ouidad who are great people with a great product and service.  As you can see from my photo, I have naturally curly hair and well my curls were cured when I found Ouidad.  We have just launched their new blog so take a look and let us know what you think.

Well there will be more to report after the conference, after our new site goes live, after Ouidad has been up and running for a bit and after we announce or next newest client.

Stay Tuned!

Valorie

John C Havens of BlogTalkRadio and Speaker at the Business Smart Tools Conference interviews Valorie Luther about the Business Smart Tools conference and social media at large!

Download podcast here

Albert and Valorie take some time out for the Marketing Edge Podcast. Learn more about the Business Smart Tools Conference and join in the conversation that has begun here and will continue on May 5^th. To register, go here.

Well, I have had quite the week of events…not many but enough to make note of how others run their shows.  Attending the occassional conference or gathering is important to me because of chairing the Business Smart Tools Conference…I am like an an actor who goes out into the field to study for a role.  I need to know what others are producing, how they are conveying their messages and if there are any formats that work better than others.  I also need to know if our content is up to date and still important!!

What I discovered is that there are many people who can speak on a variety of topics, experts who have first hand knowledge of their subjects.  This is all fine and good but the information they bring to the table needs to be managed by talented, personable, respectful and knowledgeable moderators who know how to listen and can be flexible and go with what may work at that moment.  Information needs to be harnessed and released so the audience both understands and expands their thought process while listening which I would like to think is the ultimate learning experience. 

This is not an easy task and this week proved it. 

In NYC last week at this time I attended a tech PR conference.  Again, good speakers, horrible moderators.  They didn’t fully understand the knowledge base of the speakers and for sure didn’t get the information out that the PR audience really needed.  The one overriding message I walked away with was that PR practioners are horrible people who lie and spam and bloggers and the traditional media hate them.  Now, I half way agree wtih the lying and spamming part but hello…this was an audience of public relations professionals…teach them, guide them, instruct them.  It was a big opportunity to bring foes together for a merger of the minds but the chance was lost for everyone…the speakers and the audience walked away feeling the same way they did when they first walked into the room which should never happen at any successful conference.

I attended another event last night in Stamford.  Again, great topic.  An Exec Chairman who blogs.  Everyone wants to know about his process, what walls he encountered, what joys he has discovered and do the media really read the blog and more.  The speaker did very well.  The moderator tried to do some homework but I know this guy and he has resisted social media from day one so what is this moderator doing getting up and talking to Mr. Exec Chair about blogging when he barely understands the medium himself?  On top of that, the moderator scolded an attendee for asking a question before the question time…ever heard of the UnConferences like Podcamp?  They are very successful because of their flexibility.  Oh and how about the time he told people not to get on their soapboxes with long winded salesy questions that only promote their own business but we had to hear about how he blogged once and talked to the media and how fun it was?  Sorry…I will stop now.

Having said all of this, I am always on a quest to improve the Business Smart Tools Conference.  I learn every year what made it great and what needs to be improved and I work very hard at being a moderator who can prepare engaging questions that tend to the needs of the audience.  I also work hard at listening during the panels so I can go with the flow and make the next question relevant to where the conversation is going.

My and Creative Concepts’ goals for the Business Smart Tools conference remain the same every year.  I want this conference to be a place where the message matters and the content becomes a truly educational experience.  No cash sponsors to infuse the panels with a pitch, each speaker is chosen because of the expereinces they can share, and each demo company has something noteworthy to show in a way that is beyond the typical Web 2.0 company that doesn’t have a business plan or revenue stream.

Based on past responses from the attendees, we have done a good job but keep in mind that we never stop improving, listening and sharing content that teaches more than it preaches.

Join us May 5, 2009.  Stamford Marriott.  I will be the one listening and making sure the attendees get the biggest bang for their buck!

Hey is anyone out there listening to AM Radio anymore? Hope so because we were just featured on Greg Skidmore’s radio show and blog Business Catalyst on WGCH in Greenwich, CT. Here the podcast here.

Enjoy!

Ok, I know it is Labor Day and that I should have been spending every minute with my beautiful family but they were tired from our trip to Southhampton (beautiful weather, great food and wonderful family made it the perfect trip) and I was drawn to my computer, more specifically to Facebook. I am so excited, I just had to share.

We as a company entered Facebook about a month ago well after we had a presence on MySpace for one of our clients. Myspace was a bit of a wild frontier and seemed to move quickly but once we were on there for awhile, we only had the same venues to work with: the one very active group we joined which linked closely to our clients’ product and our “friends” who seem to listen more than interact. Please note that while many agencies create digital ads for these spaces, we believe in creating communities and talking to people while growing the business so we are out there making friends and joining groups on behalf of our clients.

Well when we entered Facebook, it was different. First, it took awhile to become familiar with all that was going on (new apps created literally every minute in addition to a different interface from MySpace slowed us down temporarily). Robert Scoble, famous blogger and vlogger and one of our first friends, was making updates and additions on a regular basis which we could see on our mini feed which updates us about our friends, so I started to follow his path just like I did 4 years ago when I heard him speak live in NYC where he talked about blogging which, at that time, was a new and very strange thing to most of the world including myself.

I slowly have gotten into the swing of things by creating a profile page for myself/Creative Concepts and have uploaded a direct feed for this blog, a neighborhoods app so I can see who my actual neighbors are that are using Facebook (not many), I added a fun wall where I can post video, pictures, slides and more, plus I created a new group for the Business Smart Tools Conference which promotes the conference but more importantly, keeps a new/social media conversation going throughout the year.

I do believe that my intuition about blogging 4 years ago was on the money…I feel the same way about Facebook! Join the fun and let me know so we can be “friends!”

I just saw a great article in Wired about how Second Life isn’t adding up for the corporate sector. Coke and the NBA have been in there trying and while Second Life may have the cool factor, the cash register isn’t ringing for the marketers and their bosses!

Interesting because I have been saying this from day one. As one who advises clients on new/social media options, I checked out the blogging when it first got hot (loved it and saw great value), I checked out the podcasts (good for commuters but not everyone will have an IPod so it isn’t the perfect solution), I checked out video on Youtube and other sites (so cool and viral), I checked out Linkedin (great value but high maintenance) and MySpace (interesting but have to weed through a lot of riff raff) and Facebook (wild frontier with endless possibilities) and of course Second Life which, when asked, I said from day one it was cool but had no long term value (translates to sales) for the corporate sector.

Now at the Business Smart Tools conference in May, I invited Greg Verdino, then of Digitas, to give a demo of Second Life. With every conference, I want to present something that is way out there for those who aren’t messing around with the latest latest. He was great and it was interesting but many in the audience just didn’t see how they could use it to get their message out to their present and future customers. I agreed with them.

As Wired has mentioned, the concept of Avatars in an online community may evolve into something truly worthwhile for business, but until then, stick to the hundreds of other marketing options that exist online!

Well, the conference is over and I am finally at the point of catch up…I think.  I have great clients who ask for more…more than a blog, more than myspace, more than meebo…let’s go…can I ask for anything more?  It is a dream come true to have a client say they want to continue to move forward in the world of online communities where what a company says matters and how you do business matters even more.  Great stuff…I need to start writing my case studies.

Until then, here is something to ponder.  When the Business Smart Tools Conference was completed, we sent out a thank you to all attendees, speakers and demos along with some questions for each to answer.  How did you like the conference, did it meet your expectations…you know what I mean.  One thing that came back many times was, “where were the women?”  The only women involved were from Creative Concepts. 

As presenter of the conference, I tried to get some women involved and was very aware that there was no female participation from the podium except for myself.  I tried to contact 7-8 women and for various reasons, none could make the conference.  Some didn’t return my call, some didn’t follow up, one was going on her honeymoon (Ok that was a good one).   Maybe there aren’t that many women in the social media/corporate arena, maybe there aren’t many women who are up for the task of public speaking, maybe the women don’t see the value of getting out of the office and into the public eye…I wish someone could explain it because I don’t understand it.

Tonight I happened to be looking at info about the new markeing agency Crayon who has their offices in Second Life.  It is a mash up of talent and information….cool stuff…lots of chatter about them but where are the women? 

I know women for ages have been saying that they don’t have the same opportunities that men do…women aren’t getting paid as much…is that because women aren’t putting themselves out there in the same way?  Are they afraid?  Is it because women have families (please don’t use that one…I have 4 kids and one of them plays AAU basketball where I have literally seen every corner of CT for the last couple of months!)  Are women the innovators?  Are women the leading edge entrepreneurs who have a vision and follow up no matter what anyone says?  There is no excuse for a woman not to succeed in this new online world where the playing field has been leveled and the ones who win are the ones who get it vs. the guys who play golf and talk shop and make deals over a whiskey.

This is the biggest reason I love social media and this new online world…there is no seniority…everyone is scrambling to find the buck and make this work.  The most creative, and I mean creative in the sense of melding the business and online worlds, wins the prize.  Women have an unbelievable chance to make it here.  Where are they?  I guess you will have to come to Creative Concepts to find the perfect mix of female talent and social media know how!