Archive for December, 2009
Vintage Silk
Dec 16th
I found a box of old 50s era ties my dad gave me years ago. These are the cool skinny ones and I’ve worn them at various times in my life. When I opened the box last week, they kind of called out to me again so I pressed the wrinkles out of a few and have started to sport them again.
He also gave me the sweet antique tie clips to go with them and I love wearing those. Not many men know the joys of a good tie clip any more and I doubt if I could even think of a place to buy them outside of a good antique shop.
So a call to arms gentlemen – rock a vintage silk skinny every once in a while and bring back the mystery and innocence of that golden age of flat-tops and tail fins.
Back with my Mac
Dec 12th
Hi all,
You never really know what your Mac means to you until it’s gone for a while. Just picked it up at the Apple store last night and getting it warmed up again. Lot’s to do today and tomorrow to get caught up with clients patiently waiting for work. And now, what I’m going to do – like I’ve been told many, many times before – is backup this puppy with Time Machine.
Running out to see a client but I’ll be back with another post soon.
Jeff
Social Media = Business Design
Dec 9th
That came to me on a train ride into DC a few days ago after listening to another of the great Inbound Marketing classes from Inbound Marketing University. And that might not be a revelation to you, but it kind of put things in a different perspective for me. A business is everything that encompasses “the business”. From your product range or service, to your bank account, your name, the website, the location, etc, etc, etc.
And then on to your marketing plan which today really needs to include social media in some way, shape, or form. And all of it is what I’m going to start calling “Business Design”. I’ve been designing and building websites for entrepreneurs and small businesses for quite a few years and what I’m learning and starting to teach others about social media is putting an entirely new spin on my business.
I’ve partnered with two other men to really build this up to a level where we can help people with a range of services. We’re developing a blue print that will help us guide new clients from bare-bones, I’ve got nothing prepared, to an up and running site with a WordPress blog, a Twitter account, a Facebook page, and a well thought-out game plan for implementing it all. And that’s not it entirely, but that’s the core, and we’re getting interest in quite a few arenas so it’s gratifying to see that what we’re building is resonating with others.
So, back to our equation again – Social Media = Business Design. Social Media is a tiger with a long tail. The implications and importance of learning how to tame that beast and make it work for you can’t be over-stated. If you’re just beginning to build a business, roll your sleeves up and dig in with both hands. Craft your business around a well conceived Social Media plan and stick with it – don’t give up. Design your business with Social Media.
If you’ve been in business for a while and are ready to take it to the next level, roll your sleeves up and dig in with both hands. Weave it into your existing marketing plans to supplement and strengthen what you’ve already got in place. Design your business with Social Media. And for you especially, keep metrics. Test against your numbers from the traditional media efforts and see how things stack up. It’s my guess that once you settle into a good Social Media flow, you’ll start to see things happening quicker.
Most of all – for either group, newbies and wizened business pros – engage, start dialogues, and build trust. This is the new key to long lasting success.
See you soon,
Jeff
What We Can Do with Social Media
Dec 3rd
Hi all,
I’ve begun to get a buddy of mine interested in Social Media and to me, it’s the next logical step for him. You see, he was a writer and editor for one of the big US papers for over 20 years. That came to a screeching halt not too long ago when they RIFed him along with many others.
So we started talking on our shared commute into DC and he listened. He was then approached by a college chess team to do some media work for them and the first thing out of his mouth was “Tweet”. Man he’s a quick learner. This morning we laid out an entire Social Media game plan to help this team and he’s more excited than ever.
Think about that – A chess team from a very small college goes to the big state of Texas for a tournament. Because of the SM plan started now, they have followers eager to read tweets posted on every move. Chess freaks will be able to “watch” an entire tournament if they so choose. They can tweet back, “Ooh, you shoulda castled there!”, or whatever it is that chess freaks say at times like that. The event will be larger by quantum leaps by using Social Media, and their entire community will get to feel part of it.
We reconvene tomorrow morning to begin tweaking the plan. Can’t wait to write about how it all turns out.
Jeff