Author Archive

WordPress Foundation Says “Hello World” With New Site

The official word on the official birth of The WordPress Foundation came in the wee hours of January 22, 2010 (there’s still a few minutes left of January 21 in my time zone). It reads simply: Hello, world. The moment we’ve all been waiting for: the WordPress Foundation is now public. As they say, slow cookin’ makes [...]

The official word on the official birth of The WordPress Foundation came in the wee hours of January 22, 2010 (there’s still a few minutes left of January 21 in my time zone). It reads simply: Hello, world. The moment we’ve all been waiting for: the WordPress Foundation is now public. As they say, slow cookin’ makes good eatin’.

So what’s this all about? WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg explains:

“The WordPress Foundation is a charitable organization founded by Matt Mullenweg to further the mission of the WordPress open source project: to democratize publishing through Open Source, GPL software.

The point of the foundation is to ensure free access, in perpetuity, to the projects we support. People and businesses may come and go, so it is important to ensure that the source code for these projects will survive beyond the current contributor base, that we may create a stable platform for web publishing for generations to come. ”

The move is an effort to further gather broad community support to make sure that the freely accessible software project remain that way.  When you look at the numbers you realize just how important WordPress has become:

• WordPress is available in 23 languages and has been downloaded about 18,000,000 times in 2009
• The more-than 1,100 free WordPress Themes have received over 11,000,000 downloads
• The 8,000 WordPress plugins  have received over 71,000,000 downloads

So, whether you are a WordPress user / fan or not, head on over to http://wordpressfoundation.org/ and have a look around on this momentous occasion.

(Hat tip to @acnatta for pointing this out on Twitter)

What’s Missing In Your Social Media Program?

I was having lunch with my friends Ike and Jacob Pigott recently and we were discussing the state of social media here and across the US. I got on a bit of a rant but I think I had a good point to make. As a strategic marketer it drives me absolutely nuts to see [...]

I was having lunch with my friends Ike and Jacob Pigott recently and we were discussing the state of social media here and across the US. I got on a bit of a rant but I think I had a good point to make. As a strategic marketer it drives me absolutely nuts to see companies (and professional marketers) executing tactics without a solid STRATEGY. This practice seems to be even more prevalent in the emerging social media field. Everyone with a Twitter account is an expert. Every company with a Facebook fan page is “doing social media.”  Social networks are tools, tactics are tools, heck, a hammer is a tool. Would you hire anyone who can use a hammer to build a house for you? I hope not. You’d want someone who could help you develop a PLAN for the house. Not just a plan for putting up walls and a roof, but a plan that would create a house that does what you need it to do. A plan that ties the different systems together in an elegant and useful way.

Then I started thinking about what else is missing. It stands to reason if there is no strategy and your just swinging your social media tools at random people, you probably don’t have much CREATIVE thinking involved either. After all, CREATIVE is what conveys the message that came out of the, you guessed it: STRATEGY.  I happened upon a post by Edward Boches, Creativity in the age of social media. Bam! Edward hit the nail on the head. He says that in social media’s infancy, the the tendency is to “simply abide by the protocols of social media:” i.e. listen, learn, share, engage and be transparent. His next questions are exactly the ones I’ve been thinking about:

But what happens when every brand is on Facebook and Twitter, when there are so many communities and conversations that we encounter cacophony? Will it be possible for a brand to gain notice or attention without it? Perhaps. But my instincts tell me that we, as marketers, will have to get more inventive with our content and that we as consumers will demand it.

We have an unprecedented opportunity for unlimited creativity not just in the content itself but also in how it’s presented and how users interact with it. Have you noticed that the most creative ideas are part message, part meme, part distribution? My two favorite examples that  Boches provides are Nike’s use of the Chalkbot and the Boone Oakley website that they executed on YouTube. See the embeds below and then next time you’re thinking about social media, think about creating an effective STRATEGY and stretching your CREATIVE muscle before picking up the social media tools.

Two Dell Executives to Perform Keynote at Social South

Social South™ has announced that two exciting speakers will perform Friday’s keynote address at the social media conference: Richard Binhammer, Strategic Corporate Communications, Social Media and Corporate Reputation Management at Dell and Lionel Menchaca, a 15-year Dell veteran and chief blogger at Direct2Dell. Richard and Lionel will take the stage together for the first time [...]

Social South™ has announced that two exciting speakers will perform Friday’s keynote address at the social media conference: Richard Binhammer, Strategic Corporate Communications, Social Media and Corporate Reputation Management at Dell and Lionel Menchaca, a 15-year Dell veteran and chief blogger at Direct2Dell. Richard and Lionel will take the stage together for the first time ever. It promises to be a lively and enlightening discussion as they reveal the strategy behind Dell’s successful social media presence. See Social South for more.

Bye, Bye, City Stages Goodbye

Note: This was first published by The Terminal after I wrote it. I thought I’d post it here too for you.
I’m a music lover and a fan of City Stages. I was a volunteer for the first ten years of the music festival and attended City Stages for many years after that. I did not [...]

Note: This was first published by The Terminal after I wrote it. I thought I’d post it here too for you.

I’m a music lover and a fan of City Stages. I was a volunteer for the first ten years of the music festival and attended City Stages for many years after that. I did not attend last year or this year due to what I describe as a lack of top tier and up-and-coming bands to stir my interest. I didn’t want to let City Stages slip away without saying goodbye. I decided what better way than a remake of an old classic American Pie.

A long, long time ago…
I can still remember
How that music used to make me smile.
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And, maybe, they’d be happy for a while.

But has-been acts made me shiver
With every song they’d deliver.
Bad news on the bank step;
They couldn’t take one more step.

I can’t remember if I cried
When I read about his fallen pride,
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died.

So bye-bye, City Stages good bye.
Drove my Hummer to the drummer,
But he didn’t reply.
And them good old boys were nursing their black-eye
Singin, “this’ll be the day that I die.
“this’ll be the day that I die.”

Did you write the book of love,
And do you have faith in God above,
If the Bible tells you so?
Do you believe in rock ‘n roll,
Can music save your mortal soul,
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?

Well, I know that you’re in love with him
`cause I saw you dancin’ at the park named Linn.
You both kicked off your shoes.
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues.

I was a lonely teenage broncin’ buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck,
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died.

I started singin’,
“bye-bye, City Stages good bye.
Drove my Hummer to the drummer,
But he didn’t reply.
Them good old boys were nursing their black-eye
And singin’, “this’ll be the day that I die.
“this’ll be the day that I die.”

Now for 20 years we’ve been on a loan
And moss grows fat on a rollin’ stone,
But that’s not how it used to be.
When George sang out for the king of lien,
With a note he borrowed from the cash machine
And a tax that came from you and me,

Oh, and while king Larry was looking down,
Stages played his bankrupt town.
The courtroom was adjourned;
No audience has returned.
And while Council read a book of larks,
The quartet practiced in the park,
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died.

We were singing,
“bye-bye, City Stages good bye.
Drove my Hummer to the drummer,
But he didn’t reply.
Them good old boys were nursing their black-eye
And singin’, “this’ll be the day that I die.
“this’ll be the day that I die.”

Helter skelter in a summer swelter.
Stages flew off with a writeoff shelter,
Half a million bucks and growing fast.
It landed foul on the grass.
The players tried for a forward pass,
With vendors on the sidelines in a cast.

Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While the sergeants played a marching tune.
We all got up to dance,
Oh, but we never got the chance!
`cause the players tried to take the field;
The marching band refused to yield.
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?

We started singing,
“bye-bye, City Stages good bye.
Drove my Hummer to the drummer,
But he didn’t reply.
Them good old boys were nursing their black-eye
And singin’, “this’ll be the day that I die.
“this’ll be the day that I die.”

Oh, and there we were all in one place,
A generation lost in space
With no cash left to start again.
So come on: jack be nimble, jack be quick!
Jack flash sat on a candlestick
Cause fire is the devil’s only friend.

Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage.
No angel born in hell
Could break that satan’s spell.
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite,
I saw satan laughing with delight
The day the music died

He was singing,
“bye-bye, City Stages good bye.
Drove my Hummer to the drummer,
But he didn’t reply.
Them good old boys were nursing their black-eye
And singin’, “this’ll be the day that I die.
“this’ll be the day that I die.”

I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news,
But she just smiled and turned away.
I went down to the Stages door
Where I’d heard the music years before,
But the man there said the music wouldn’t play.

And in the streets: the children screamed,
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed.
But not a word was spoken;
The church bells all were broken.
And the three men I admire most:
The father, son, and the holy ghost,
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died.

And they were singing,
“bye-bye, City Stages good bye.
Drove my Hummer to the drummer,
But he didn’t reply.
And them good old boys were nursing their black-eye
Singin’, “this’ll be the day that I die.
“this’ll be the day that I die.”

They were singing,
“bye-bye, City Stages good bye.
Drove my Hummer to the drummer,
But he didn’t reply.
Them good old boys were nursing their black-eye
Singin’, “this’ll be the day that I die.”

What Five Little Boys and a Lemonade Stand Can Teach You About Social Media

I think about Social Media a lot. All the time, in fact and I’m always observing online and offline behavior and trying to draw a correlation between the two.
This past weekend my two boys joined three other neighborhood kids in setting up and running a lemonade stand. I sat across the street watching the whole [...]

I think about Social Media a lot. All the time, in fact and I’m always observing online and offline behavior and trying to draw a correlation between the two.

This past weekend my two boys joined three other neighborhood kids in setting up and running a lemonade stand. I sat across the street watching the whole production; smiling each time they learned a new selling tactic.  I also discovered something that I think demonstrates the value of social media to small business.

As I observed the kids efforts to attract the attention of the drivers rolling by, I noticed three basic types of driver behavior:

1.     Some would glance and smile but kept right on going. 

2.     Some would slow down and wave or say hello but did not stop. 

3.     The rest would stop and actually make a purchase. They would pull up, interact with the kids and talk with the parents nearby.

If you overlay the observed behaviors with social attributes you see that generally the first group was either in hurry or did not know the children or families involved. The second group (based on my personal experience) ‘knew of’ the kids and parents but did not know them well. The group that actually became customers was comprised of people that had an actual relationship with the sellers. They had conversations on many previous occasions and wanted to support the kids’ entrepreneurial efforts.

How does that translate to social media? Well, social media is all about the conversation and building relationships with your customer. By using social media to reach out to your customer, by listening, conversing and providing value, your customers will be glad to stop by your lemonade stand. And the ones who wave and say hello are only a few conversations away from being customers as well.

So next time you’re apprehensive about where to start in social media, step away from the overwhelming flood of tools and tactics and remind yourself it’s about the people. Imagine a little lemonade stand in the Southern suburbs where friends stop by to share stories and sip on an ice-cold cup of hand-squeezed lemonade.

Worldwide Social Media Strategy Workshop Makes its First Stop in Birmingham, Alabama

Go to http://smcwbirmingham.eventbrite.com/ to register. Use the discount code STIMULUS for 33 percent off!
The Birmingham Social Media Workshop will be held on Monday, April 27 in Birmingham Alabama. After taking the pulse of the market, reviewing the result of the Social Media Buyers Guide and discussing anecdotal evidence, we came to realize pretty quickly that [...]

Go to http://smcwbirmingham.eventbrite.com/ to register. Use the discount code STIMULUS for 33 percent off!

The Birmingham Social Media Workshop will be held on Monday, April 27 in Birmingham Alabama. After taking the pulse of the market, reviewing the result of the Social Media Buyers Guide and discussing anecdotal evidence, we came to realize pretty quickly that almost everyone is in need of a clear strategy for integrating social media into their marketing and communications mix so companies can start to engage. It was also clear, that the biggest challenge social media champions face is selling it internally and educating coworkers, so our plan for this latest series of workshops pretty much wrote itself.

You will benefit from the experience and creative insights from some of the leading practitioners in social media for business. Join Mack Collier, Scott Schablow, Ike Pigott and Chris Heuer for a full day workshop where you get to leave with the framework for your social media strategy and insights on how to sell the plan to management so you can begin to make it real.

So roll up your sleeves, this isn’t a bunch of pseudo-celebrities trying to show you how great they are while talking about how many followers they have on Twitter, this is about you making social media an integrated part of your business strategy. We are doing a WORKSHOP so that you can put social media to work for you. In fact, when you register, you can tell us what you are specifically trying to accomplish and we will work to tailor the final agenda and related discussions to your specific needs.
So what will the Social Media Strategy Workshop look like?

We will start the day discussing the impact Social Media has on your business and why so many people are turning to social media for an up turn in their business during the economic downturn. How does social media change things? What exactly is it? What is possible and what is not? How can it help your business? Why is everyone talking about it? What are the most important principles you need to understand? What’s the different between a status update, a Tweet, a poke, a nudge and all those other silly sounding terms?

After a brief introductory presentation addressing these key questions, each of our workshop leaders will host smaller conversations in breakout groups so we can more directly support your specific needs. Each workshop leader will then host a conversation that includes some presentation materials as well as demonstrations of important services, software and web sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Delicious, YouTube and more. We will also highlight important areas of focus which may be a part of your final strategy including:

* Review of current marketing plan (do you have your’s? bring it.)
* Building and maintaining relationships
* Looking, Listening and Responding
* Producing Media
* Engaging with the Market
* Managing Community
* Social Media Campaigns
* Metrics and ROI
* Becoming a Social Organization
* Social Media Campaigns
* Measuring Influence and Maximizing It

After lunch we will review case studies from leading companies such as Dell, H&R Block, GM and Zappos as well as from smaller everyday folks applying the same insights in distinct ways. While the cases are all unique to the specific situation at hand, they do offer incredible insight into the perspective required to be successful. Participants are encouraged to share their own case studies as part of this discussion too so that we may learn from each other throughout the day.

The remainder of the afternoon will focus on developing a social media strategy for you to take back to your business. In addition to discussing in-depth details behind key strategic decisions you need to make, we will also discuss how you can get support for these activities within your organization. So you will leave at the end of the day with a strategic plan and a plan for how to begin putting it to work within your organization.

Participation is limited, so if you live in or near Birmingham, we hope you will consider spending the day with us figuring out how to apply social media to your business. It’s a transformational step for you and your career as well as your business. So, please register today and join us in Birmingham on Monday April 27. http://smcwbirmingham.eventbrite.com/

We are also currently still seeking sponsors for the workshop. If you are interested in sponsoring the event, $5,000 will make you the title sponsor for the workshop. If you are interested in supporting your local community and you are looking at buying 2 tickets, you might be interested in becoming a participating sponsor for $1,500 which includes 2 tickets for you and your company in addition to 2 tickets for a non-profit organization and traditional workshop sponsorship coverage. Contact us for more details.
Monday, April 27 at the McWane Center in Birmingham, AL, 9am-5pm

Questions? Email Scott.Schablow@gmail.com

Facebook + Twitter + LinkedIn ≠ Social Media

So you’ve decided that social media would be good for your business and you’re testing the waters.Good for you. You’ve set up a Facebook page, a LinkedIn Group and a Twitter account. Those are plausible tactics using the most popular social networking tools.
So you’re done right? You are now using social media to market [...]

So you’ve decided that social media would be good for your business and you’re testing the waters.Good for you. You’ve set up a Facebook page, a LinkedIn Group and a Twitter account. Those are plausible tactics using the most popular social networking tools.

So you’re done right? You are now using social media to market your business. Or are you? Does a mere physical presence and occasional post to a social network constitute an effective social media campaign for your business?

The answer is a resounding NO. When I speak to businesses about social media many of them respond proudly that they’ve got social media covered. “We’re in Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter,” they proclaim! They are mistaken and uninformed. Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are NOT all there is to social media marketing.

If you have begun using popular social networking tools for your business I congratulate you. You ‘get it’ in terms of the value of conversing and engaging with your customer. What you don’t get is the value that experienced social media marketers can add to the equation.

For instance, did you begin by developing a social media strategy? Does that strategy support your brand message and does it integrate seamlessly with your offline efforts? An effective strategic plan is imperative to your online success.

There are many issues to consider to effectively leverage your presence in social media. I’ve listed some key considerations below, but there are many more that depend specifically on your particular goals, objectives, and most importantly your audience. Have you thought about:

• How can you determine which tools and tactics are the ones that are the best match for your brand?
• How are you going to use social media to build your brand and bolster credibility among customers?
• What can you do to maximize cohesiveness and build synergy between the social networks you are involved in?
• Among the tools and tactics you’ve identified, in what order should you begin your participation?
• How do you ensure that you are reaching your target audience within each social network?
• What are the online protocols for each social network and what unspoken rules must not be broken?
• How should you best budget your time to get the most out of your social presence?
• What kind of tangible results should you expect? Prospects? Loyalty? Sales?
• How will you measure success and ROI?

If you didn’t think of these questions, much less answer them, you may actually end up doing more harm than good. Social media can reap great benefits for your brand and your business if done correctly. It can just as easily tarnish your image in an instant. If you are interested in venturing into social media for your business, seek the assistance of a qualified experienced social media marketer.

The NEW Art of Networking: Peter Shankman

The April Meeting of SMC Birmingham will be a joint session with PRSA Alabama Chapter.

Be sure to join us April 14 at the PRSA Alabama Chapter meeting for “The NEW Art of Networking” with guest speaker Peter Shankman. More info: http://bit.ly/Vpk0
Just be sure to RSVP BEFORE April 7 as space is limited! PRCA members [...]

The April Meeting of SMC Birmingham will be a joint session with PRSA Alabama Chapter.

Be sure to join us April 14 at the PRSA Alabama Chapter meeting for “The NEW Art of Networking” with guest speaker Peter Shankman. More info: http://bit.ly/Vpk0

Just be sure to RSVP BEFORE April 7 as space is limited! PRCA members Birmingham Social Media Club members and guests are invited to attend.

UPDATE: Join us for a little meet and greet social at The Garage Cafe http://www.garagecafe.us at 8 p.m. April 13. Peter will be there as well and all of our friends from the PRSA, PRCA and Social Media Club of Birmingham to welcome Peter to town with a beverage and some mingling.

How a Pinewood Derby Car Propelled Me Ahead of the Pack

I have two young sons in cub scouts and one of the highlights of the year is the pinewood derby race.  At the beginning of the year each scout in the pack is handed a small pine block to shape into a racecar. Dads and sons dream that their car will be the fastest to [...]

I have two young sons in cub scouts and one of the highlights of the year is the pinewood derby race.  At the beginning of the year each scout in the pack is handed a small pine block to shape into a racecar. Dads and sons dream that their car will be the fastest to coast down the elevated track.

Our first derby year we had no idea what we were doing. We followed the lead of the other dads and crafted nice looking cars but they weren’t very fast.  It was a disappointing day for all of us.

The following year we talked about how to make the car faster. A realization set in: you can’t move ahead of the pack by being a part of the pack. If everyone is doing the same thing, you can expect everyone to have similar results.

Thinking strategically we noticed that everyone was concentrating on what they can do to the block.  Car shape and design were the primary concerns with some attention paid to the placement of the metal weights (cars must all be 5 ounces or less).

We started to focus on what happens outside of the block. We experimented with various wheelbase lengths, different balance points on the car and ways to reduce friction on the wheels and axles.  It worked. Each son won their den race, but not the pack as a whole. The next year we won the den races and my oldest son pulled off the ultimate victory, grand champion of the entire pack!

In other words, when we quit following the masses, it freed us to think of new ways to increase performance. When we ventured outside of our own comfort zone we became leaders of the pack.

I see the same pack mentality in the business world. Marketers stay with the tried and true, doing what the others do, hoping to gain an edge but ending up with the same results as the rest of the pack.  Isn’t time for you to win the race?

Leave the pack mentality behind and stretch yourself beyond your comfort zone. Free yourself to look for new opportunities that are hidden from conventional thinking. Use your intuition and imagination to see what can happen outside the block.

Experiment with social media by participating in social networks and listening to your customers. Conduct formal or informal user experience testing on your web site to find new opportunities and maximize your investment.  Develop new strategies for search marketing. Why not evaluate your email campaigns and look for potential that might exist in a down economy?

It may not be easy.  It may actually be uncomfortable. But then again, you know that nothing worthwhile is ever easy. I can tell you that the rewards sure are gratifying.  So, tell me what you think. What ways can you think of to pull ahead of the pack and cross the finish line in first place?

Social Networks Put You At Center Stage For Inauguration

Early reports from this morning’s inauguration indicate record-breaking Internet traffic for numerous social networks and video distribution sites. While, it has not been the heaviest traffic day across the Internet, but the day is not over yet. Before I give you the numbers, it’s worth mentioning that CNN.com Live partnered with Facebook to create a [...]

Early reports from this morning’s inauguration indicate record-breaking Internet traffic for numerous social networks and video distribution sites. While, it has not been the heaviest traffic day across the Internet, but the day is not over yet. Before I give you the numbers, it’s worth mentioning that CNN.com Live partnered with Facebook to create a fantastic user experience.

The interface had a live video window on the left and a live feed of the user’s Facebook status feed on the right. This enabled users to talk with their friends about what was happening on the live video feed. There was also a tab to view all users status posts. Many people were also concurrently posting comments in Twitter, the leading microblogging site. Based on the lively conversation, I’d say the CNN.com Live and Facebook partnership was a huge hit. I thought Steve Garfield’s comment below summed it up nicely.

I assume that CNN was patrolling the status feed looking for interesting content. My friend C.C. Chapman was called by CNN to do a live interview this evening. I presume to discuss his video post about the CNN Facebook partnership. CC calls the interface a game changer for the Web and TV. I’m not sure it’s quite that groundbreaking, as Ustream has a similar setup chat + live stream. As CC says though, it’s nice to have your friends as a live discussion feed and not just public chatter.

Now, on to the numbers as of around Noon EST:

Facebook,  partnered with CNN for a live feed of “status”
•    As of 10:15 a.m. PT, 600,000 status messages set using the CNN app
•    Average of 4,000 Facebook status updates were set every minute during the inauguration
•    8,500 status messages set in those 60 seconds
•    Obama’s page on Facebook has more than 4 million fans and more than 500,000 wall posts
•    “Millions” of members logged in during the live broadcast

Akamai, content delivery network:
•    5.4 million visitors per minute to online news outlets

CNN, 6 a.m. ET, CNN.com over 18.8 million live video streams
•    1.3 million concurrent streams just before Obama’s address

Mogulus, live-streaming video service
•    Powered online inauguration video streams for C-Span, USA Today
•    Broke Mogulus’ network record with 105,000 concurrent viewers, over 1 million visitors total

Hulu, Ustream, Joost, No streaming stats available

How did you watch the inauguration? Leave a comment and let me know.