social media Archives - Page 4 of 9 - WeGrowMedia

How to Extend the Value of In-Person Events with Social Media

The traditional way of meeting others at writing and publishing conferences and events doesn’t always work. At large events, you are a face in a fast moving crowd. Many conferences are heavily programmed, with 2-12 sessions to choose from per time slot. Ideally, a good event is a well-attended one, but the side effect is that it’s harder to chat with people at large events unless you are very social, or have an established network.

So today I want to explore how you can get more out of in-person professional events by using Twitter and blogs. The funny thing is, some of these tactics work even if you aren’t at the event.

The publishing world recently had a bunch of back-to-back events, most of which I attended: Book Camp, Tools of Change, Writers Digest Conference, Digital Book World, and AWP. The tips I am going to share are things I observed others doing: savvy, smart, useful things. From memory, these are some things I saw from the following folks: @VirtualDavis, @TheWriterMama, @Porter_Anderson, @JaneFriedman, and @RonHogan, but there are certainly others I am forgetting.

Each of the tactics below helped put the person who used them closer to the center of the conversation, helped others get more value out of the event, and connect people to each other. And of course, there work helped make the event itself a success. Huge benefits for everyone involved!

Follow Twitter event hashtags for weeks before and after the event.
When Tweeting about an event, use the official Twitter hashtag for that particular event. For those I recently attended, these were their hashtags: #dbw11, #awp11, #wdc11, #toccon, #book2, etc.

People begin following these hashtags well before the event starts and well after it ends. This is your chance to begin getting value out of the event and making connections before you ever set foot in the room.

Before the event, share your anticipation, how you are preparing,
and ask questions. After the event, share your takeaways, and links to recaps and presentations that people post.
Create a blog post before the event about why it is valuable.
In-person events have a life long before and long after the time you are there. People are planning to attend, to speak, and anticipating who will be there, and the value they will receive for their investment in travel, their time, or the cost of the event itself.

Begin writing about the event weeks before it happens, letting people know why you are going to it, speaking at it, or looking forward to hearing about it.

This helps start conversations, it helps promote the event, and begins to set expectations for others attended or interested.

Even if you aren’t going to the event, you can do this. Since you will be getting real-time reports while the event happens, this is your way to get into the conversation.
Use hashtags and @names liberally.
Twitter is not a broadcast medium – engage with those who are attending the event, who are like minds. Share the work of others by using their @names, talk to them directly, and ReTweet your favorite Tweets. It’s up to you as far how far you take this, you want to find a balance between being present, and being overwhelming!
Create a guide to the event – what sessions you are attending and why.
I seem to remember @JaneFriedman doing this for AWP, which was INCREDIBLY helpful for me. AWP is a huge event, and I only had 1.5 days there, with dozens and dozens of options for sessions to attend. Jane laid out the sessions that she was attending for each time slot. I have an incredible amount of respect for Jane, so her schedule became my schedule for the times I could attend a session.

It is this type of filter that social media gives us – a personalized take on the event
Create a blog post after each session – what you got out of it, who was there.
Plenty of people give recaps of the events overall (and I love these), but it can be very helpful to give specific recaps and details for each session you attended. I believe Christina Katz did these – and they were very helpful because they helped spread the message of individual speakers, and for those who weren’t in attendance, it gave them a more granular view of the value of particular session topics.
Create recaps quickly
There are more people Tweeting from events and doing recaps via blogs. Quality is of course the real value, but if you can also match this with speed, then you get people who couldn’t be in attendance talking about sessions hours after an event – while it is still happening, instead of waiting days later to hear about it, long after it’s over.
Build relationships early
At an event, oftentimes there are people you want to meet, maybe they are speakers or attendees, but you don’t always get the opportunity to do so during the event. Maybe there are a precious few moments to make a connection, and it’s hard to always relate the context of who you are so quickly.

With Twitter and blogs, it gives you a chance to get on their radar early, to make connections early, to extend the value that meeting at an event (before, during, and after) gives you.
Share photos
Lots of people Tweet about an event, but not as many share photos, showing you exactly what the sessions looked like, and seeing the faces of people who are there. This gives people more context, and makes everything a bit more personal.
Focus on people, not just topics.

YES, we learn a lot at events, new ideas, new examples of what works and what doesn’t – but making real connections to others is often he reason people get on a plan or take 3 days off work. So when sharing the event, use photos of real people, using their names, quoting them directly. Help promote people, not just ideas.
Look for quotes that are shareable.
I don’t want to reduce the world to soundbites, but there is a value in finding a brilliant shareable quote that gets someone’s message across. You see these happen via Twitter… someone shares a great quote, and it spreads like wildfire, being ReTweeted by dozens of others.

And of course: ReTweet quotes that others share. You see relationships build on Twitter, just by people sharing each other’s thoughts.
Create HELPFUL content for others.
Look for opportunities to help others. If many attendees are traveling to a new city, create a travel guide, if you know a lot of attendees have never been to an event before, create a primer on how to get the most out of it. I’ve seen people do this via video, blogs and photos. @FuseEight once did a great video going through the ‘swag bag’ at event – and giving tips on how to get through registration quickly. These seem like little things, but they help people go from ‘outsider’ to ‘insider’ before they event arrive.

In December, I attended the first Book Camp event in NYC, which uses an unconference format. For the second Book Camp in February, I shared a photo recap of the earlier event to give people a taste of what the event – still unusual in its format – would be like. I had someone come up to me at the event and thank me for that – it gave him proper expectations for the day.

Even a guide to the best coffee at an event would likely be welcome to many!
Know people’s Twitter names ahead of time.
Know who is going ahead of time, know their Twitter names and be prepared to use them. I watched @RonHogan do this at one session at Book Camp – he pretty much knows everyone in publishing – and it was neat to be at discussion, following it on Twitter, and see him spout of a ton of Twitter names of all the folks sitting around him. He so innately connects the in-person world to the social media world, and doing so brings the conversation to another level.

Maybe you won’t know the Twitter names for everyone at an event you are going to, but at least know the names of the speakers for the sessions you are attending. The more you prepare, the easier you will find it to create more value for others.
Extend the value of an event from days to weeks.
With twitter and blogs, an event lasts weeks before and weeks after. How you engage with an event online can do a lot to make new connections, help create useful content for those attending and those who couldn’t, and yes, even raise your profile among those in an industry.

-Dan

Is My “Build Your Author Platform” Course Right For You?

Registration is now open for my 8 week online course: Build Your Author Platform. The class is nearly full, but I wanted to share some more info as to who this class might be for, in the event you are considering registering, or know of someone who might be right.

This course is for:

Passionate writers with vision
So much of what I teach is about focusing, researching, defining – and then connecting it to the world, to a real community of people. A bit of uncertainty is absolutely expected for any student – that you may need help honing your brand, understanding how to communicate the value of your work, or identifying the audience who it will best connect with. This course does help clarify a lot about an author’s brand, their work, and their community – and help make it all a reality. But that vision and passion, that is what I hope the writer to come with.
A writer who wants to connect their work and vision with the world
Someone who is not afraid of technology – you are comfortable with a mouse, and the idea of actually interacting with people online. You need not be an expert by any stretch, but if you want to spend as little time online as possible, it will be harder to engage your audience, which is something I am passionate about. Many writers I know are apprehensive about social media, and unsure of how to use it best. That is absolutely fine, I review the value, and specific steps to get on board. But the writer must have an innate desire to connect with readers.
A writer looking for a framework for success
The success of a writer is not always a plug-and-play solution – ONE secret button to press. It is about establishing a process to create great work, and connect it with others. That the writer is willing to invest TIME in building their career. This course presents a valuable framework by which to expand your writing career, and to do so with your existing resources.
A writer who is focused on building a long-term writing career
This course does cover specific tactics to get the word out about your work in the very near term. But overall, it addresses the needs of someone who is committed to their work and their audience for the long haul – that they are interested in building a viable career, not just marketing a single book.

Do you have questions about the course? Check out the course details and registration page.

I am incredibly excited for the course, it is something I have poured my heart into, and am constantly thinking of ways to make it even better. If you think it’s right for you, please don’t delay registering. Registration officially closes on Wednesday February 23, but I may need to close it early if it fills up. I want to keep the class size to a reasonable number, to ensure I can provide as much value as possible to the students.

I also recently announced a bonus to the course: Guest Lectures!
As a bonus to the regular course material, I have arranged for a few guest speakers during the course, including Jane Friedman, Kevin Smokler and Justine Musk. These are super-smart and passionate people on the topic of building your author platform – an incredible resource to have them as a part of this. I hope to add more guest speakers (my ideal is one per week), but these three are confirmed.

Thanks!
-Dan

How Should Writers Use Social Media? With Purpose.

As a writer or publisher, how will you affect the world? What is the purpose in your work?

These are questions I’ve considered often in the past few years, pondering how my work can help writers and publishers reach their goals. I often come back to the ways that digital and social media has enabled us to come together, to share, to find solutions. But there is one thing I always try to keep in mind:

Social media is neutral. It’s how you use it that counts.

I want to share a few examples of what I mean from outside the publishing world, and then consider lessons that we can each use in building our careers, and creating our work.

Story #1: Social Media is to Amplifies Your Purpose

There’s an interesting story being built one Tweet at a time, the story of Cory Booker. He is the mayor of Newark, New Jersey, and has become known for using Twitter as a communication channel to the citizens of Newark. For instance, during a recent snow storm, he used it to help identify areas that need snow removal. And here he is helping to dig someone’s car out of the snow:

(link via SEO & Blogging Tips & Tricks)

But the thing is, Twitter didn’t make Cory Booker get out in the snow to dig a car out. What’s more, there are a million reasons why someone would think that Twitter is exactly the WRONG tool for his job – serving a city of people who may have never used Twitter before.

He is leading them to it. Not to Twitter, but to purpose. He is using Twitter as an open communication channel to reach him directly. When is the last time a city like Newark had a direct communication channel to the mayor via your mobile phone? And when is the last time something like a Tweet could bring the mayor himself out to dig out your car from the snow?

Twitter didn’t do that. The citizens didn’t do that. A passionate leader with values and a mission did that. One man.

Using social media is about scaling what makes you a decent human being. It is about focusing on goals, and being clever about ways of achieving them. It is not about ‘followers,’ but rather, it is about building real connections in any way possible. Mostly, it’s about caring.

It’s not what social media does for you, it’s what you do with social media.

Story #2: Purpose vs Features

This is the choice we all have: what to talk about on social media. We’ve all heard the jokes of Twitter just being people talking about what they are eating for lunch, but that isn’t often the case with the folks I follow. They are building something greater, sharing their purpose.

Here is an INCREDIBLE video of Steve Jobs talking about just this: the need to talk less about what it is you do, and more about why you do it:

(Video via Scott Gould)

This video was taken just after Steve rejoined Apple in the 1990s after being away for years. The company had declined a great deal, and was nothing like it is today. He talks about getting back to core values:

“Our customers want to know who is Apple, and what is it we stand for.”

And that’s what I think social media is about. That is the opportunity for you, be it personal or business. Be clear about what you want people to know about you, be clear about how your Tweets connect to a larger purpose – a larger contribution that you are making to the world with your work, with your career.

Steve shares the example of Nike:

“Nike sells a commodity. They never talk about the air soles. You get a feeling with them. They honor great athletes and athletics. They spend a fortune on advertising, and you would never know it.”

When these companies present themselves, they rarely talk about the features of the product. Apple is not about computers or iPods or iPads. Nike is not about shoes. They are about enabling. They are about the EFFECTS of those products.

What will your effect be?

(Further reading: This topic also the focus of the book Start With Why, by Simon Sinek. Worth the read.)

Story #3: The Long-Term Value of What We Create

I just found this inspiring video about NASA, made by a fan. This act in itself shows how we look for the inspiration of an entity’s purpose, not just news on their latest efforts – this fan was frustrated that NASA does such a poor job communicating it’s mission. The video talks about how our work today, leads to greater purpose, well beyond our own lifetimes:

Is your work this forward-thinking? Are you looking down the road at your effect not just this year, but beyond our lifetimes? It’s an incredible thing to consider.

How should writers use social media? With purpose.

All of these examples are challenging, mostly because they force us to focus on our deeper purpose, not momentary marketing tactics. I’ve worked with hundreds of writers over the years, and this is always the hardest part – not in the tactical elements of crafting and sharing, but in identifying their purpose, their value, their relationship to the community, and their goals. The tactics flow from that center.

And of course, all of this has me considering my own purpose – how I can best help those around me. It’s 4am as I write this, one of many late nights considering this topic.

This is why I am about to launch an online course for writers, one that focuses on everything mentioned above: how to identify your purpose and goals, how to use digital and social media to get your message out, and how to serve the needs of your readers and your community.

It’s called “How to Build Your Author Platform,” and it’s an intensive online course for writers. I’ll be sharing more info next week.

Thanks.
-Dan

Intention vs Action: How Businesses Connect With Customers

I have been exploring the ways businesses are connecting with their customers via the web and social media. More and more, you hear brands refer to their customers as a “community,” especially as businesses more readily embrace social media to tap into the markets they serve.

But I am curious about the distinction between stated intention, and action. What I mean is: oftentimes, a business will have a noble stated intention – that they are embracing social media in order to listen to their customers, and offer them special benefits that will improve their lives and help them meet their goals.

And sometimes, this is indeed the case.

But other times, businesses are piling into social media simply to market their products via new channels. Are they adjusting their tactics? Of course they are. Savvy companies know they can’t merely “broadcast” their message in social media channels. So they get more nuanced, they get smarter about turning a marketing campaign into a social media campaign, adjusting where needed, to how their customers’ behaviors and expectations are changing.

Company Values
This reminds me of company values and mission statements that many businesses create. More and more, you see them posted on walls of offices and in stores that you may frequent. Here is Ben & Jerry’s:

Image by Rebecca Bollwitt

Here is the mission statement of grocery retailer Supervalu:

Image by Michael Hartford

The person who posted that photo to Flickr included a great caption that hits the nail on the head:

“This big yellow sign hangs above the stairs to remind us daily what our mission is. When I started about seven years ago, the “mission statement” took about 10 words to state; then a couple years ago, a committee was commissioned to revamp the 40-year-old statement. It now takes up the entire wall. Ah, committees.”

Many businesses want to be all things to all people, and embody every positive attribute. So you will commonly see mission statements that include all of these elements:

We will produce the very best products.
We put customers first.
We put employees first.
We believe in serving the community first.
We put our shareholders first.
We stop at nothing short of excellence in everything we do.
We will be innovative.
We will provide greater value than anyone else.
We are the exclusive choice for savvy customers.

Too many businesses try to be inclusive of everything a business CAN be, so they often avoid making choices as to what kind of business they actually WILL be. They say “yes” to every item on the list above, because they never want to feel that they aren’t innovative, or value-conscious, or focused on customers, or produce great products.

What many companies are left with is rehashing the same staid words in their mission statements and values. The result is often that they become meaningless simply because employees and brands can’t live up to all of these things at once. If you remove the name of the company from these statements, you likely won’t be able to tell if it is from a bank, a food store, or a heavy equipment manufacturer.

This is the real point:

Intention isn’t enough.

It’s not enough to SAY you are focused on customer satisfaction, you have to deliver on it. It’s not enough to SAY you are innovative, your customers have to be the ones to say that.

In the best of times, we learn of a company’s values not because of what they say, but how they act. Here is a great example. This is the stated mission statement on the wall of a mobile phone store:

Image by Matthew Oliphant

And this was the caption beneath the photo:
“And they followed through. The sales guy actually told us, given the situation, to NOT get a phone.”

Why do companies veer from their stated missions? Because John Lennon’s adage holds true: “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” A company’s brand is built not on what they say, but what they do. And often, they are doing so many things at once, that it may be difficult to keep their “values” front and center, especially when the need for “profit” is always looming so large in front of them.

I was watching a video of Steve Jobs announcing new Apple products this week. In it, he made a small offhand remark:

“This is why we do what we do.”

Why do I mention Apple? Why does EVERYONE mention Apple!? Because they seem to be one of the rare companies whose values, whose purpose, IS self-evident in their products, in their stores, in their tech support. Are they a bit arrogant? Sure. Are they a bit closed? Sure. Are they expensive? Sure. But we know what they stand for, we know what you GET when you buy an Apple product, and what you don’t get. They made a choice – and it’s hard to make a choice because that means you will likely have a polarizing effect with customers: some will love you, some will hate you, and some will ignore you. But this is how you prevent your business from becoming a commodity always competing on price alone.

When a brand needs to actively promote their values, you have to wonder why it was not so obvious in their existing products and services that they need to actually tell us.

Marketing Vs Community

This tagline on the door of Starbucks scared me:

I read the sign as another message: “Give in. Come Buy Our Coffee Like a Robot. Every Day.” But of course, wrapped in words such as ‘comfort’ and ‘ritual’ to make it sound down to earth, simple and relaxing.

Some businesses think a community is merely trapping a group of people into the habit of giving them attention or money. The customers of a cable TV provider are not a community. They merely needed cable, and had a limited choice of providers. Or for retail stores who offer loyalty cards, they feel that if you use them for a discount, again and again, that you are a part of their “community.”

A community cares about more than a discount.

Why do I love social media, even for businesses? Because it allows smart businesses to truly help their customers, truly listen to their customers, and truly share their passion and expertise with like-minded individuals in their markets.

And, instead of relying on vague values statements, it allows companies to illustrate their values in small ways every day. Not by saying “we care about customers,” but by actually connecting with individual customers, and showing them that they care.

It is these direct connections that never existed before. Cluttering up the social media channels with traditional marketing tactics is certainly going to be something that businesses will try. But the smart ones will realize the potential to reshape how they connect with their customers, and reshape the value that they can have in the lives of their customers.

And instead of printing values on the walls of their stores and offices, companies will simply allow their customers to express the values that they experienced. One Tweet, status update, and blog post at a time.

-Dan