DISQUS

Definitely a thought provoking post and follow up commentary. Social directory assistance - great term for socnet 411 or in some instances socnet 911.

Twitter truly is instantaneous community sourcing as well as are other socmed tools: FriendFeed, Brightkite, etc. My social online community is my default first source for information, recommendations, research, suggestions, advice - and of course, online conversation.

Thanks for posting your TOC workshop. Nice soup-to-nuts explanation of social media and publishing. I hope the crowd walked away aware of the quality of content that had just been shared with them. I hadn't seen the @garyvee/conan spot - I was cooking dinner and listening/ half-watching your preso - and there they were eating cigars...hilarious! Gary is the perfect example of someone making a buck via socmed being his passionate, dirt-eating self - emphasis on self.

I'm wondering what the make up of the crowd was? Newbie online publishers? Offline traditionalist wondering what gives?... a mix of online/offline journalists????

Also, when can you share the joke you decided not to tell during the preso?

I really needed this shot in the arm today, I had one after another of "Dilbert passion sucking" seriously? moments at work today. Thanks for the timing Chris! Going to check out Jon's site now.

Agree wholeheartedly with Brogan on this. Auto DMs are worse than email spam to me because you are SMSing me and for me, my text messages are 1:1 convos w/ people I know.

If you want a relationship with me, get to know ME....oh, I forgot this twitter thing IS all about YOU and your monologue, forget dialogue/communication/chatting - continue shouting at me - yep, that will work. 1:1 medium using a mass blast tactic (email spam) - good luck with that.

Thanks for the mention, it's great to see that the average age for Twitter is trending in 30s on a measuring services like Quantcast.

Timely post, John. Thank you! Found this through twitter today, as I rarely have time to get through my RSS feeds.

Anyway, I think the time saving tools concept is very valid. And there's some great tips here from you and the comments. I love the @tagthis tip from Russell.

I do not agree that auto-DMs on twitter fall into timesaving. IMHO, they are SPAM. When I follow someone, it's typically because they have chosen to follow me. I don't need an auto-DM from them. I don't even know them. For me, DMs are for 1:1 convos that shouldn't be broadcasted out as an "@". It should be personal (to me only) and worth my time. Appreciate me and what I bring to the table, get to know me before you seek me out individually. Use some basic DM skills to segment me at least.

Bottom line, if you are too time-starved to provide a personal DM, then don't shoot one out. Again, that's just my take.

Thanks for expanding on the community sourcing concept, Ken. You tapped a key differentiation point for brands that understand community sourcing - both parties benefit.

We are all connected, we all gain by lifting each other up.

When brands really get community sourcing on the social web, their brand ambassadors do the heavy "source" lifting (provide ideas, promote/WOM, help other customers, SEO love, etc.) for them.

Thanks for expanding on the community sourcing concept, Ken. You tapped a key differentiation point for brands that understand community sourcing - both parties benefit.

We are all connected, we all gain by lifting each other up.

When brands really get community sourcing on the social web, their brand ambassadors do the heavy "source" lifting (provide ideas, promote/WOM, help other customers, SEO love, etc.) for them.

For me, the answer is in your last question with just a little twist: Harnessing customers'/prospects' perceptions, feelings, and opinions of our brand’s expectations by mastering delivery. Your brand pillars have to align with your brand's expectations or your customer becomes confused, feels jilted, and/or finds a better fit with another brand. If your brand doesn't align with expectations, you don't give your customer an experience to promote, you give them one to complain about or walk away from feeling as if they wasted their time and money.

We, as brands, set the expectations, we need to deliver on them. For instance, let's say one of your brand pillars is "customer focus" and your brand personality/message for that pillar is "simple and easy to do business with." If your product installation is a tedious 13 step process with 7 pages of "make me go to sleep" directions in 6pt type - how's your delivery jive with your brand message?

The misstep between reality and perception typically occurs when we, as brands, forget the customer's voice/response (expectation given the message we promoted) in our delivery.

While I was on maternity leave with all my kids, they were sitting on my lap as I was checking emails, etc. so the web has been part of their routine from birth . We just put in D-Link SecureSpot last year due to a detour our then 9 yr old son took with pop-ups as he was doing research on chickens (aka chicks) for a school report.

Our 3 and 4 year olds go to specific kid-friendly sites with us right there. Our 10 and 8 yr olds surf disney, webkinz, nickjr, google for homework - heck, we look up random stuff all the time with them. It's their default source for news, info, local movies, ordering pizza, songs, games - their default period. We'll be watching TV and looking things up online in parallel, that's a lot of fun with Discovery Channel.

I think our 10 and 8 yr olds type better than my husband. They all know more about getting around the web than my parents. And their favorite quiet game is "wwwdotshhhhhhhhhhdotcom" :).

Love the wisdom you share on crowd sourcing, John. Wondering what your thoughts are on a more granular term - community sourcing: community sourcing, or as Seth Godin would say in his latest book, Tribes, tribe sourcing.

Thanks for the succinct connecting points, Chris.

Great reminders to all of us as we work on connecting with value in mind, not volume. On point 1: When you show people that you have done your homework about them specifically (not just their business), you catch their attention and you may break through their "got ya on mute, even though I appear to be listening" filter.

Taking the time to appropriately connect others as you discuss in point 4, is a delicate art. Appropriate connecting equates to trust. If you are connecting folks for right fit sake vs YOU "know all these folks, see how big I am" sake, it's good ju-ju vibe greatness. And that greatness vibe is always good when it comes back at 'cha.


PS - Dude, the photo rocks!

Would love your thoughts on how companies are combating brandjacking on Twitter. How are the companies or Twitter helping to ensure that when a customer reaches out to a company on Twitter that the customer's account information isn't getting into the wrong hands, etc.?

I have a presentation coming up on online business networking. The organizers want me to focus on LinkedIn, however I'm leaning toward Twitter. Your post is so timely and relevant. Thanks!

Thanks for this summary post, great tips for all of us. I appreciate the mention as well, but even without it...this consolidated resource is so very relevant to companies looking to engage on twitter.

Thanks for scribing, Jeff. Love the "binky" call out :)

How very timely and relevant, thank you, Chris! When we meet again, some meal (breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner) with great coffee or good wine - or hopefully both! is on me.

I was "SantaGaryVee"ed this weekend!

Much to my surprise and delight, I received @garyvee's book, "Gary Vaynerchuk’s 101 Wines Guaranteed to Inspire, Delight, and Bring Thunder to Your World." I love Gary Vee's love of his brand, it's contagious. He delights his customers and prospects because his passion isn't show, it's part of his being - you can't make that zest up!

KC TweetUp 5:30 on 5/30 at Barkley's deck, 1740 Main, w/ special guest @QueenofSpain. Hope to see you all there!

Great idea, Jeff! I'm over the top active on twitter, my id is: zenaweist, follow me and I'll follow you back. I have a socnet blog: http://nothingbutsocnet.blogspot.com/ and am currently working on the client side in online brand marketing.

With ya, Gary. Out with the bad juju, in with appreciation and love. The idea is warming. Looking forward to being a part of the lovefest tomorrow. Where's that YouTube Hug video when you need it?

GPD08 on!

Thanks for posting on Jeff's latest venture. I love the concept. The shows I want w/ the internet portability that I crave. I'm going to PrimeTimeRewind to login and take my own cube for a spin.

Thank you for asking, Chris. You are the best at walking your talk. That's why we love you, man.

Go for it, go for the advertising. We understand, we have grown up on OLA (online advertising), we get it.

We want you focusing on your content that we crave. With the advertising revenue, you'll be able to do that.

Again, thanks for asking. You never cease to amaze.

Cheers,
Z

Love this format, thanks for sharing.

The experience itself is winning out over utility right now. All the buzz, amazing. The socialness of it all, it's interesting to take in.