DISQUS

Thanks for putting us among such smart folks. Sucks, we're even blushing.

Thanks so much for the kind words. The article is worth the read and it definitely has a lot of good things to think on in there.

And about "playing around online," man-oh-man does that nail it or what? I think the online social media world is becoming just like the old school advertising world: noise, noise, noise.

Greetings Chris,

I work under the black flag of Brains on Fire, where we actually fly the skull-and-crossbones when we join forces with a new client. And your post is interesting to me.

I think it's important - now more than ever - to have accomplishments that your company can point to that actually moved the needle for your client. Proof. No more talk. No more "I spoke here." No more "I have a top 50 blog and X followers on Twitter." And case studies do that. They are proof. They show process. They show what you do actually works - over and over and over again.

Take a cross-section of your followers and you'll see the word "expert" liberally used. But then if you ask them to show you what they've actually done, they freeze. Because if you look beneath the surface, there's nothing.

We use social media as a tool here. But we use it keeping in mind that 92% of word of mouth happens OFFline. Like you said, it's one cannon on the boat - not the boat itself.

Thanks for the shout out and adding to the conversation, David.

Keep on keepin' on!

Thanks for the very kind words, Alex. You make the cluetrain run, brother. So keep on keepin' on.

All aboard.

Amen to that, brother!

Onward.

Thanks for the sweet, sweet link love, Matt. We appreciate it.

Keep on keepin' on.

I'm a birthday person. And the only thing I like better than my birthday is other people's birthdays. so HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MCKEE!!

GREAT post, Jake. And so true. If companies can't poke fun at themselves, then what's the point? A holier than thou, we never screw up attitude will just get you hated (in most cases).

Great great great great great post, Jake.

I think some companies are so desperate to say that they are participating in the Web 2.0 world that anything that has a even remotely seems like a two-way conversation + technology makes them feel like they are participating.

I'm with you, Communispace provides a great service to their clients. But let's call a spade a spade, shall we? It's not community. It's not long term. And it sure as hell isn't sustainable.

Did I mention GREAT post?

Thanks for the kind words about the Fiskateer movement, Ryan. You're right, if we got measured on CPM, then I don't know if it would be deemed a success or failure. But as for many, many other elements, including the bottom line, it's a huge success.

Great post.

Congrats, Papa Community Guy!

Ahhhhh. Now I'm with you.

Much love,

Spike

Jake my brother,

PC only is not genius. It's crap! I want my Battlestar!

Greetings iPhone (and Dallas) brother,

For #5, goto settings and choose Phone. There's an option to list first names first.

Have fun!

Welcome to a bright, shiny new world my friend!

Nice additional thoughts, Eric. Relationships are sometimes underrated, but always pay off.

Great post. Keep up the nice work!

Just five minutes? You?re killin? me, Jake. But I think one of the most important things that I could ever try to convey is that ? if they do it right ? they are in for one of the toughest but rewarding experiences of their professional career. It?s that whole ?campaign vs. movement? thing, and you said it best at the last WOMMA Summit: ?Start what you can finish.? This isn?t some 3-month campaign that they can abandon and move on. This is literally rolling up your sleeves and digging in to people?s lives. It?s hard freakin? work. But it?s so very meaningful, too.


Be flexible. Not everything is going to go according to plan ? and that?s a great thing. Movements are organic. They don?t follow a marketing strategy or fit on a flowchart. They are living, breathing things because they are dealing with living, breathing people. And those people will be your greatest ally ? if you listen to them and let them in. To be flexible you have to realize that you aren?t in control and need to relinquish that illusion from the start. The sooner you do, the better.



You are a part of the community, too. Not the director. Not the leader. And certainly not the owner. Remember that.

Thanks for the advice and sharing the cheese fries! Great to see you as always.