DISQUS

Andrew Hyde not only has great hair, but he works really hard at helping other people succeed and that's really cool.

A lot of people in this world are simply out for themselves, but not Andrew. In addition to working with TechStars, he founded Startup Weekend as a means of helping people everywhere establish communities that foster entrepreneurship and innovation. How cool is that? And, he did it without a graduate degree. Imagine what a big, fancy education from the Colorado Leeds School of Business could do for him and the world!!!

This picture made me laugh, so I hope it makes you laugh, too.
Happy, Happy Birthday.


I'm not sure if the picture will show up here, so I'm taking a risk.
Birthdays are good days for taking risks, but it's not my birthday so I'm hoping you'll forgive me, or at least laugh at me, if it doesn't work. Hell, you can laugh at me if it does work.

FYI, my birthday is Nov. 17. If you remember that come Nov. 17, 2010, I will be very impressed.

Anyway, happiest of birthdays to you, Laura. May you have many happy returns of the day -- and stop hanging out with so many drunks. ;)

<abbr>Shannon Paul’s last blog post..5 Very Official Tips for Building an Online Presence</abbr>

See, you're not so weird... except for the the blood plasma thing, that is hilarious -- true love indeed! Thanks for being such a great sport. :)

I never expected anyone to read the stuff I write so I am especially delighted that someone as amazing as you actually finds enjoyment and insight in what I'm able to share. You encouraged me from the very beginning and I will never ever forget that. Ever.

I just did one of these! Luckily I have a lot of strange things to share about myself. I may have to post a few more things before I throw another one of these out there but I'll post another eventually and gladly blame you publicly.

But really, peanut M&Ms? "I won't be doing another one of these memes for at least another year"? Really, that last one shouldn't even count! ;-)

One of the things that helps me listen better to detractors is to understand that they actually care enough to complain. Nine times out of ten, their motivation is not derived from some sick impetus to destroy you or your brand, but rather from some type of disappointment. That disappointment is rooted in care -- a wish for things to be different. Opening up a little and listening does a lot to completely transform the situation. Often your harshest critics become your strongest advocates once you add a little bit of listening and a direct feedback loop. It's nothing short of amazing!

Thanks for the post, Jason! I wish everyone realized how well this stuff works when you work it right. :)

You did absolutely nothing wrong. In fact, you lived up to your own guidelines that you've established as your own best practices. We should all have that much integrity.

What I find most disturbing lately, is this tendency to be overly dogmatic about social media. Dogma related to "journalistic" ethics and blanket policies (drawing a line in the sand) that trump personal relationships are leftovers from an old media culture based on a professional filter.

For consumers to filter their information through a professional filter, established guidelines written by someone in authority needed to be present. This is no longer the case. People can define their experience with businesses and individuals through a personal filter, or a social filter. The social filter is much more powerful and meaningful than the professional filter ever was. This notion, in theory, SHOULD be liberating.

The interesting thing to me is that with this newfound freedom to define things like ethics and best practices in terms of personal, individual evaluation, people go back to clamoring for the old blanket policies. Can't we do any better than that? Besides, I thought we were all making this up as we went along.

Tinu,

I love the dialogue you've written out here- and the illustration for that matter. I also really appreciate the fact that you're trying to help people see that this isn't the best way to achieve their goals.

I think a lot of especially "clever" marketers like to see themselves as rule-breakers. I've found that telling them there is a better way of behaving to be a waste of time -- they laugh off my advice like I'm some uptight school marm.

This approach works better I think -- illustrating that rather than thinking about their approach to social media as right or wrong, they need to think about what works and what doesn't. Being that guy certainly *doesn't* work.

This is very helpful!

I always think of linking text to my posts as a means of fostering relationships and supporting my work with the good work of others. After all, my ideas don't exist in a vacuum.

Even though I think I'll basically continue to do what I've always done when it comes to linking -- which, has been pretty intuitive so far. I appreciate having a more technical understanding of why linking is good from Google's perspective. I'm sure this will also help me explain the importance of linking to those who might not care as much about the intangible aspects of relationship building. ;)

Thanks much!

This post got me to think that maybe a way to rephrase the question of ROI is to ask: Does Value = Price?

Traditional measurements of ROI have always been bullshit. What I believe all of us involved in social media are really looking for is a way to justify the value of our work in a manner that reflects something more honest than the traditional models of impressions, hits, clicks and pageviews with an arbitrary dollar figure imposed on each one.

I understand that businesses make decisions based on the bottom line, but isn't social media engagement all about humanizing organizations? Ultimately, businesses are made of human beings and most human beings I know are motivated by a number of things in different measure -- profit is only one such motivator. In fact, we have a word for human beings who are solely motivated by profit: psychopath.

Maybe instead of humanizing businesses, social media engagement will simply make businesses healthier, with new definitions of success that include profits, but that are more multifaceted and closely aligned with those of us not suffering from a destructive mental affliction. Or, maybe I'm just especially hopeful today. : )

FYI- Another Facebook tip for businesses that I learned yesterday at Katie Paine's session on social media measurement was that the vast majority of what is shared on Facebook amongst friends is video... so marketers, trim some of the text you've got on your fan/business pages and start sharing some video. :)

Congrats, Captain! You make us all better at what we do. Just please, from one pirate to another, raise the flag if you ever need any assistance.

So many pirate references in the comments and no mention of booty? Well, allow me to be the first... get some!

I just have one question: Why does everyone bring the funny when they comment on your blog? I'm just saying...

Thanks, Chris! I'm sorry I didn't see this sooner. I can't even believe that you mentioned me; I feel so special.

I'm learning very quickly how much of a juggling act it is to write, work and stay up on everyone else's content so I can promote them, too. The synergy between these three things is something to keep in mind since any one of them is dependent on the other. You're truly one of the great ones that remind me that doing well at all three really is possible.

Thanks again!

Great tips, Pai!

I can't imagine this working for anyone. Doesn't make me want to buy jeans, wear jeans or feed my mogwai after midnight. I'm sorry, but Paul the Pincher is the stuff of nightmares. Yuck.

Once again, I'm not following directions, but I will still put my idea here just for fun. :)

I really like the idea of the recipe contest using Oreo cookies. The idea would be to show how many different desserts could be made using Oreo cookies as an ingredient.

But, instead of just simply getting written entries, contestants would enter by putting together a 3-minute cooking segment that they could post on YouTube.

Celebrity chefs could judge to help guide the public in the voting process a la American Idol. Finalists would be posted on the website and the public could vote for their favorite recipe/amateur chef. The winner(s) of the contest would win a spot on a celebrity chef's television show, a three-page spread in some kind of homemaking/lifestyle magazine and become a regular blogger/vlogger on the site in order to establish an Oreo-centric recipe swapping community.

It's funny how so many people still don't understand how to "Use the Internet to Get Off the Internet".

I really think once people figure out how to use the social web for local marketing, that's when everything will really go mainstream. Too many marketing/PR pros approach the Internet as an either or proposition -- they either reach an audience online OR offline. Very few see the potential power that blurring the line will bring.

What a great example. This even makes me want to play WoW.

I hope people are listening. Engaging in social media is not an either-or proposition, or a new marketing sub-specialty, it's all just marketing. Engagement in social media simply makes you a better marketer because you know how to access and interpret more information faster.

I don't think Chris is urging anyone to give up the recipe for any secret formula here.

The bottom line is that in this new web-based economy, the best sharers will stand to reap the largest rewards since they will become valuable contacts for others who are also very good at sharing. Tight networks of great sharers will form around certain types of information and extend outward to looser networks that eventually connect to other tight networks.

Yes, strategic sharing and strategic philanthropy definitely predate the internet, but now the currency being shared is access to my network and sharable content in addition to money and other kinds of political clout that have always been valued.

Since time and attention are increasingly valuable, why should I spend my time searching and vetting information if someone I trust in my network has already done the heavy lifting? This shared information then has the potential to provide raw materials to make new content and add more value, thus providing me with something to share in kind... and the cycle continues.

This is really a nice post. I hope I am making sense here - it's all very abstract. It makes me want to draw a picture and I'm no artist. :)

While I haven't used Twitter to job search, I have been able to grow my network exponentially by using it to build relationships with others who have similar professional and personal interests. Other social networking sites work great for staying in touch with people you already know through other associations, but Twitter offers a way to actually meet new people in a much more organic way -- through chatting publicly and exchanging information.

Many of the contacts I've met on Twitter are now people that I've met in real life. The funny part is that there's always a kind of instant recognition that comes as a result and not so much of a need to break the ice.

I think recruiters are smart to check out the conversations on Twitter, and social media in general, since it's a very fast way to put the word out about job postings and find web-savvy new recruits.

This post provides a great resource for those looking to make the dive into Twitter for professional networking. Thanks!

In PR, we hear so much about what NOT to do, it's nice to have a positive example to share every now and again. I'm passing it along... Thank you!

This is a real treat!

e.e. cummings = delight

Besides, rules are for suckers -- except the rule about one space after a period. *That* is the only rule that should never be broken.

Ugh. I hate voice mail! I hate leaving them and listening to them.

It takes too much time to go through too many long-winded messages that leave the crucial call-back information at the end.

Between caller-id and text messages, voice mail seems redundant on both ends. Plus, if you need to reach someone who's in a meeting, they can quickly text back an answer to a question without interrupting the flow of business. This is impossible with voice mail.

I can't wait for voice mail to go away.

Ugh. I hate voice mail! I hate leaving them and listening to them.

It takes too much time to go through too many long-winded messages that leave the crucial call-back information at the end.

Between caller-id and text messages, voice mail seems redundant on both ends. Plus, if you need to reach someone who's in a meeting, they can quickly text back an answer to a question without interrupting the flow of business. This is impossible with voice mail.

I can't wait for voice mail to go away.