What separates the “Gurus” from the rest of us?

Nothing.

Everything.

Nothing? I know enough smart people in the social media and communications spaces to know that there are many people not singled out as “micro-celebrities” in their field who are quite capable of being superstars. Heck, they are superstars through what they do. When I tell people to blog or produce other content despite the intimidation of competing with a known “expert” in their industry, I simply say “Chris Brogan is not smarter than you (or insert name of favorite expert that works for you).” If you have any ideas at all, you are capable of sharing them in some form- teach, blog, speak, podcast, comment, rant at a Speaker’s Corner. It doesn’t matter, express an opinion, relate an experience, share what you are learning. Snap! You are a guru (I know, we are supposed to hate that term, but I actually hate all of them, so no matter).

Everything? The one big difference is just doing it. This is where you need to eat a can of ego spinach and just bull your way up to the podium. The best know the difference between adding value and just hearing the sound of their own voice- but at some point you need to be comfortable with the sound of your own voice.

You don’t have to be the best or the most popular. But you do have to do it. I learned very early on, when I chose to be a radio major in  college, that you have to put yourself out there. Humility is great, shyness holds you back.

Go ahead. Say something.

Photo Credit: The List! Jonathan W on Flickr

This article was originally published on MediaBullseye.com.

I love how the unveiling of Twitter lists has put some people in a tizzy. From Chris Brogan worrying that lists make people feel left out to Robert Scoble overreacting to Brogan’s post and Justin Kownacki being his very readably grumpy self in the middle, there has been no shortage of thumb-sucking over lists.

I have a take on Twitter Lists. You didn’t ask for it, but here it is- in list form:

The Beta experience was weird and mysterious. I got into Lists early, but had no idea I was a Lucky Beta User. I got no notification from Twitter and was about a day from being blissfully unaware they existed at all. Wait, I’m supposed to be grateful to have been included in such an elite (just how elite, exactly?) group.

I will use Twitter Lists. This is a huge statement for me. List-like functions have been available for a long time on Twitter clients like TweetDeck and Seesmic Desktop, but I have been too lazy to use them or make them work for me. However, I follow a lot of people and have long felt the need to do something about finding easier ways to follow sub-groups of people—especially my closest friends and colleagues. My inclusion in the Beta spurred a responsibility to at least try Twitter Lists.

The fact that Twitter lists is a native Twitter feature is my deal-maker. There is no question in my mind that the fact that this feature is an integrated part of the Twitter service, rather than tied to a third-party application that may or may not be usable across all my Twitter touchpoints. Already, Seesmic Desktop (my Twitter client of choice) has integrated Twitter lists into the latest version of its software. Easy!

The ego factor involved in seeing what lists you are on (and hw many) is enormous- and fun! Just because we’re not supposed to count things like numbers of followers—and the number of lists we’re on—doesn’t mean we won’t do it. It doesn’t even mean we shouldn’t. And it certainly doesn’t mean it can’t be fun. I rode the thrill ride of seeing people actually (gasp!) find me worth of being added to lists, and then see my numbers lag behind those of Twitter pals I admire.

A personal favorite list a friend put me on is called “Old School Twitter.” I like being considered “old school.” I’m pretty sure it was a compliment.

I’m with Chris Brogan. I’m compiling my Twitter Lists privately. However, I don’t feel as strongly as Chris does about making people feel left out. Deal with it people! The main reason I am compiling lists privately so far is that my first lists are private. They are my friends and my closest colleagues. If I wanted to make a more definitive list of.. anything: PR people, Red Sox fans, comedians, then I might make it public so others don’t have to duplicate the work. Which leads me to…

Others’ public Twitter Lists are a great pilfering ground. If you want to see what lists I am interested in, don’t wait for me to publish lists, see what lists I am following. A lot of people have done “good enough” work that, despite statements above, I am too lazy and practical to duplicate on my own. Theft is the only way to go!

In all, I see Twitter lists as a great utility. My hope is that this unifying feature will goad more people like me into finally grouping the people they follow on Twitter, and even serve as a more updated surrogate for the Twitter directories that seem to keep popping up—and falling into disuse and outdated-ness.

For anyone working social media inside a company, one of the hardest tasks (aside from justifying your existence , period) may be getting people to participate in a corporate group blog. A lively, dynamic company blog with a lot of participating voices is a great asset, showing a human side of the company as well as the creative thinking that goes into the work and products and services from all departments.

I have had the opportunity to participate in a couple such blogs (most recently, the now-resurgent Slice Blog at SHIFT communications, and have observed some of the things that work and don’t work in getting people to participate.

Here are some tips based on my observations and experience:

• Have an enthusiastic evangelist. Nothing gets people to blog– to do anything more than someone who shows infectious enthusiasm. Blogging is fun- show us what you got!
• Make it easy. People think blogging is work. It’s not, really, but have fun trying to convince people of that when they have plenty to do in their primary jobs. One great idea I heard from the folks at Kodak (I believe it was Kodak’s Chief Blogger, Jenny Cisney) is to create a blog template– something that is easy to fill in and decreases the time needed to actually create the post.
• Make excuses to blog. Do you make people report back when they go to networking events or sit in on seminars? Ask them to take that energy and turn it into a blog post. Is someone preparing a training presentation? Blog post. Is someone ranting about an industry issue to blow off steam in the office? Blog post. Usually there is not much difference between internal presentation and what you can show to the outside world. Repurpose all that productive energy.
• Create a Series. In the case of the SHIFT blog, the team came up with the “Slice of SHIFT” series profiling employees, as a way to add content momentum, complement the “ideas” posts that are rolling in, and guarantee there is a post every week (now you know why I do a “Social Media Top 5″ on this blog every week).

Some things that don’t work:

• Forced scheduling: “Suzy posts on Monday, Johnny posts Tuesdays,” etc. It doesn’t work. Nobody enforces deadlines, and they will be missed. I was assigned blog posts for one blog and was probably one of the few who actually did them- and I didn’t even do it every week. I was busy!
• Enforced Deadlines: Forcing people to blog? Have fun being resented. Don’t even think about it. Forced blogging shows in the writing, too. Dull.
• Incentives: No one will blog for a cookie. Even promises of cross-posting to a more popular executive blog don’t necessarily get a result. Here’s a shocker; not everyone wants to be famous, or even “social media famous.” Go figure. Do, however, promote blog posts internally as they are published. OK, people do want to be popular in the office. Sometimes.

What did I leave out? How do you get a group blog going?

Google Wave: I Got It! I Get It. I Don’t Get it….

I finally got one of the coveted invites to Google Wave, the brand-new collaborative tool from the search giant, poised to change all our lives forever. I logged in, and… stared at it for 45 minutes, having no idea what to do. The welcome page threatens to make you watch a one-hour, 20 minute video so you can understand all the new tool’s innards (I don’t think so). I finally got entry to the For Immediate Release podcast Wave thanks to friend Dan York (who himself jokes about how hard Google Wave is to understand). However, it’s going to take some more exploring, hand-holding, and leading-by-example (by someone else) to really see the possibilities.

I believe Google Wave can be fantastic. It’s just not intuitive out of the box, something I am certain Google will address before they open this to everyone.

I’m going to hitch up to the Dan York wagon and follow what he does. He already has a great screencast up explaining how people collaborated live during a recent conference.

Dunbar’s Number Upheld in the Court of No Appeals (Seth Godin’s Blog)

That’s “No Appeals” as in “No discussion or debate” rather than “lack of appeal,” but you knew that. Seth Godin defends the notion of 150 people as the maximum number of simultaneous meaningful relationships as immutable. I definitely agree with the notion that you actually feel the moment you stretch and break the bonds of the manageable community. I still think it’s bull that you cannot have a larger community. You still have your core Dunbar, but I find that multiple “baby Dunbars” are possible as you switch personae, topics, or events. Not all of your 150 are interested in the same thing. If you compartmentalize, you can hotwire your network to handle these multiple Dunbars. Do you agree?

Fake AP Stylebook Rules

If anyone is using Twitter the way it should be used, it’s these folks. I mean it.

Things I Don’t Need That Will Probably End up Being Extremely Popular TwitterPeek

Someone I read on Twitter (Andrew Baron maybe?) thought his was a hoax when he first saw it. I did a triple-take as well. But apparently it’s real: a Twitter-only device costing $199 and $7.99 a month. I’m sure it works great. Me, I have thing thing called a phone. I just have this itchy feeling that people will actually buy this and use it. We’ll see.

Twitter Lists (No, it’s not sinking, it’s a new feature silly)

I guess I’m punchy, what with the terrible puns…

I have more coming on Twitter lists, but in short, I think the ability to make and share lists is a great utility for Twitter. It’s also a great ego game (how many lists are YOU on?). Also, Christopher Penn’s “anti-lists” don’t count, unless you enjoy being an idiot, moron or spammer; e.g., there really is something wrong with you.

Family Photo- from the Newton Tab

I am writing this post to ask my friends- any and all, no matter where you live- to contribute to a family in desperate need. A family that has lost their father, and may lose their home.

Last week, my community (Newton, MA) was shocked to hear of the death of Jeff Beatrice at the age of 49.  I had the pleasure of knowing Jeff as the coach for my son in Little League- twice. First, with the T-Ball Blue Jays, in which he encouraged and welcomed children the way only a father of 11 can, and later, this past spring, in the majors, where he guided the Yankees to the league championship, and my son to an early All-Star team berth.

Jeff left 11 children, some of whom I have had the great pleasure of knowing, and his wife, Elinor. The financial pressure on the family is more than most of us would like to imagine, and the community is coming out to help them. Read the Newton Tab for more on the story- or the Boston Globe.

One such effort takes place on Veteran’s Day, November 11. Good friends have developed the idea of having an all-day Sports-a-Thon to honor the man who coached so many of our kids. These kids will give back by forming teams and taking the holiday to play some of the games Jeff taught them to love; baseball, softball and (flag) football.

My son will be joining his friends in a game of baseball. These kids will play hard,, have fun and most important- raise money to help the Beatrice family get through an unimaginably tough time.

I only ask one thing: please consider helping. You may not live in Newton or know Jeff, but to help a family in need- even in the smallest way- is one of the kindest things we can do. We talk a lot about community on the social web; if you read this blog, you are part of that community. If you can help, please use the ChipIn widget below. Our team’s goal is $1,000 $5,000, but I bet we can crush that.

Thank you.

UPDATE: Through friends’ encouragement, I have upped the goal to $5,000. I think we can make this happen!

I have been hearing about J.C. Hutchins’ “7th Son” thriller trilogy for a while, as the author has distributed his books, unconventionally, online via social media. Especially endearing to me, with my history in radio and audio drama productions, was that this was originally distributed as an audio book. I credit friends such as C.C. Chapman with keeping J.C. in view.

Now, the first  7th Son book, “Descent,” is on book shelves, in honest-to-God paper and print. (I know, how old school). Congratulations, J.C.!

Also, I was lucky enough to be asked to mark the release of “7th Son: Descent” by offering a 10-Chapter PDF special edition of the book right here form this blog. It’s my pleasure to pass this along, and Political conspiracy? Cloning? It’s all here. I hope any science fiction/thriller fans will have a look!

To get the special edition of “7th Son: Descent” just click the book cover below:

Disclosure Note: J.C.  & Co sent me an electronic copy of the full book. I have not read it (you will notice this post is not a review)- yet, but have been impressed independently by his promotion of the series over the past few years.

FourSquare- Mayor of Squatville

I have been using FourSquare, the service which lets you alert friends of your whereabouts,  a bit lately. I like the utility for nights out and especially for large events where people like to know where the party is. I used it quite a bit in Las Vegas during BlogWorld, for example, to figure out where some of my friends were and get a pulse of the evening events.

I don’t particularly care about the little “prizes” the site awards, such as making you “mayor” of a location you check in from often- but I suppose I’m not the target demographic.

I also have been experimenting with the metaphysical uses of Foursquare. Real possibilities there….

Books Update: Twitterville

I have blogged in the past on  my mixed feelings about social media books. I have also noted why I thoght Trust Agents worked for me despite my closeness to the subject.  I have been reminded of another attraction of social media- or any- book: readability. Shel Israel’s Twitterville goes down smooth, and it is refreshing to actually enjoy the read, enhanced by a seasoned writer and the apparent presence of a professional editor, regardless of business/career objectives. I’m not done with the book yet, but I’m never bored.

Live Tweeting Curmudgeon Converted

I have enjoyed following Steve Crescenzo’s battles with live blogging and live tweeting over the years. He has had legitimate gripes against the practices, despite the support of people like his friend, Shel Holtz (and me). The latest development: he finally has a good experience with a live Tweeter who manages to get things right add value, and not piss off the speaker.

Drawing Out Disclosure for Bloggers

Whitney Hoffman has been following the FTC guidelines for blogger disclosure closely. In a recent post, she attempts to draw out the disclosure decision process in a flow chart. What do you think?

Apple’s Vaunted PR?

I have often struggled with the “appeal” of Apple public relations. The Big Fruit has been a “command and control” company in an age of increased conversation and interaction. Arrogance is successful as long as the products stay elegant, good, and popular- in the case of Apple, that goes a long way. But are they a Newton or two (along with the eventual departure of Steve Jobs) from wishing they had taken a more attractive communications strategy? This recent post by Peter Himler (”The Flack”) brings me back to these thoughts on the subject.

Originally posted at the Slice Blog from SHIFT Communications

I had the good fortune of attending BlogWorld Expo in Las Vegas this past weekend, and the honor of taking over a “Lightning Round” session for SHIFT’s principal, Todd Defren, who was unable to attend.

The session was titled “Digital Symbiosis: How Bloggers Can Benefit from PR and Vice-Versa.” I hoped to learn as much as or more than the audience, as there is no way I can presume to be inside the heads of more successful bloggers, and there were some really bright PR practitioners in attendance.

The author practices blogger relations with ZDNet's Jennifer Leggio. Photo by Aaron Strout (a SHIFT client)

I was not disappointed, as early in the session, as I tried to explain that PR agencies should not be selling on their relationships alone, and opened the idea of whether relationships work well as temporary ones based on the story at hand, or as ongoing, well-tended back-and-forths. A blogger in the audience made it very clear that his preference is not to hear from PR people only when they have news to pitch, but constantly, as a relationship.

The tug of war for PR people occurs in scale; how is it possible to have close relationships with the hundreds of bloggers an agency person may be asked to pitch across a number of clients? That question was echoed by, among others, my good friend Alexa Scordato (who now works for Porter Novelli). Part of the answer is: bloggers don’t care, nor should they. A blogger will only care about the one relationship, not the many others the PR person may be trying to maintain.

This thinking dovetailed nicely with a thought from Altimeter Group’s Jeremiah Owyang in a previous session that day, when he said a company’s customers don’t care if they are speaking online with someone from product, marketing, or another department. To them, it’s customer service and they want their problem solved. That turns the customer relations process on its head, and so it goes for blogger relations as well.

In preparing for the session, I made many notes, even lists of possible benefits for both sides in the PR-blogger relationship. Rather than using the notes, I was happy to boil things down as the conversation went: PR should focus on story telling rather than “selling” their idea, and bloggers should see PR as a resource from which they should squeeze every bit of information and connection they can. Is that too simple? Perhaps not.

A final note: I just want to thank Chris Brogan and Chris Pirillo, who encouraged me not to use my slides when I mentioned I wasn’t sure I should. I took that as gospel from two people who should know, and it worked.

Final final note: I had the chance to talk with ZDNet blogger Jennifer Leggio (”Mediaphyter”) about the session on the “Quick-n-Dirty” podcast she co-hosts with SHIFT client Aaron Strout. You can link through to the podcast (which covers a bunch of other related topics as well) from here.

Yes, We Had a Cabana

Just back from BlogWorld Expo in Las Vegas, and I have a few observations:

• A little history: three years ago, I attended the Podcast and New Media Expo in Ontario, California, which has since merged with BlogWorld. It took place right after the very first PodCamp in Boston, and it seemed that the social media world was growing at a crazy rate around me. Chris Brogan, for example, had just come off of co-leading that first PodCamp, and was already in his new job working for Jeff Pulver.  He was on his way on a trajectory that now sees his co-authored book, “Trust Agents,” doing very well and Chris is a much sought-after speaker.  It has only been three years.  It’s not just Chris, there are so many others I met then (CC Chapman comes tom mind) who have done incredible things in the last three years. The current BlogWorld seems a lot bigger than that Podcast Expo was, but the community feeling remains.

• Back then, there was quite a bit of excitement about the possibilities of podcasting. Perhaps now podcasting as a medium has become all that it will be (which is not “dead” by the way), and the excitement is now moving towards newer shiny objects such as Twitter and Facebook (we weren’t on Twitter yet at the 2006 Podcast Expo, hard as it is to picture), or maybe even trying to figure out what the next big thing is. I didn’t get a sense of what that will be (lifestreaming? nah).

With Ex-Bostonians Aaron strout, Scott Monty, and Bryan Person

• I have written before about how meeting face-to-face is still the best way to cement relationships. After BlogWorld, I can clarify further; events like this are no time to spend a lot of in-depth time with people. I did spend a good deal of time with a few people, but the majority of the time was spent saying hello to people I hadn’t met yet or hadn’t seen in some time. Even a quick wave or hug in the hallway is enough to give the online continuation of those relationships a lot more relevance. It’s a connection we can fill out better over time and distance using the new tools of social media.

The room wasn't empty, I promise! Photo by Tac Anderson

• Did I say relationships? I led a short session on the last day of BlogWorld called “Digital Symbiosis: How Bloggers Can Benefit from PR and Vice-Versa.” I was happy that the audience, an even mix of PR and bloggers, was fully engaged and participating. I learned , as I had hoped, something valuable about what bloggers want in a relationship with PR, as one blogger in the audience led me away from talking about “relevant” pitches to talking more about how ongoing relationships provide value. Essentially, bloggers don’t care how much is on a PR person’s plate or how many different types of clients there are to pitch, and how many bloggers there are out there to try and find and know inside and out. A blogger only cares about their relationship with you, a thought that coincided nicely with something Jeremiah Owyang of Altimeter Group said about business communications with customers via social media in a previous session.

• It was nice to get back in a live podcasting environment, as I was an impromptu guest on Aaron Strout and Jennifer Leggio’s “Quick-n-Dirty” podcast. I really need to get back into regular podcasting, simply because I enjoy doing it.

In all, a whirlwind of a conference, and now I must get to work solidifying all those relationships, new and renewed, that were sparked at BlogWorld.