The Collaboration Question

A question that I have been asking myself a lot lately is, “Are we using these new social technologies to collaborate and create massively impactful, engaging and life changing things?” The web has provided us with some of the most powerful collaboration tools the world has ever known. Many of us are sitting at home or in an office and we are asking ourselves how we can leverage these technologies to better reach audiences, create compelling content and fulfill our creative passions! My advice to anyone reading this is to seek out people to collaborate with and create a whole that is much bigger than the sum of it’s parts.

After my time away from the keyboard I got to thinking about who I might want to collaborate with and people I know that would surely be a powerful collaborative force; so I sent this tweet:

Tim Street is well known for his online videos. He produces innovative and viral web based shows like French Maid TV. Beyond that Tim is a digital thinker and trend setter. I have been following Tim and his amazing career for about three years now and I am always blown away by his ideas and foresight.

CC Chapman – CC who never likes to be put into a box is a creative director at the Campfire Agency based in New York. CC resides in Boston with his family and weaves his creativity all over the web with podcasting, blogging and video.

JC Hutchins – JC “Hutch” Hutchins is a podiobook author as well as multiple book print author who leads the digital spaces with his creative and innovative storytelling, multi platform use and gorilla marketing. For my money, JC is easily the best and most engaging storyteller I have come across in my adult life rivaling that of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who was my favorite author as a child.

So, Why am I profiling these Individuals?

Without getting further into the details of these three men I simply think that if you left these three individuals in a locked room for a couple of days with food, water and needed amenities that they would emerge with an amazing idea. Not only would they come out with an idea, but they would come out with a way to implement and captivate us with a story that would be engaging and life changing. I have no doubt!

So I ask you these questions, “Who would you love to see collaborate on an idea?” “Who would it be your dream to collaborate with?” and furthermore, with these technologies, “Why not make it happen?” I think most people are closer to their dream than they even realize!

JC Hutchins Photo Credit: CC Chapman

Check these guys out! How cool would it be to see these three work on a project together?? I’d pay to be a fly on the wall in that room.

Action Items

If you are sent an idea, proposal or opportunity that you would like to remember to act on wouldn’t it be great to have tools that will allow you to go beyond starring or creating a favorite? I would personally love a tool that can integrate with my current software packages like Batchblue to capture and create an action item. If nothing else, I would like to save that item back to a desktop folder or application where I can review and take action.

We need to advance beyond conversation and create tools that allow us to act efficiently on opportunity and ideas.

Advanced Filtering

I have talked in the past about bringing real time conversation into an RSS reader. This is a great way to scan for content based on keywords and phrases that are relevant to our objectives. However, this system is flawed. I was talking to an individual about spam recently and he told me that he is constantly scanning the term “Real Estate” and that he has to sift through piles of spam before he can find anything of value. Is there a way we can place advanced filters on our conversational searches so that we may filter out a screen name, or specific words that would be attached to a thread? For example you might see a tweet that comes in saying “Make 1,000 a day with my system”. You may want to filter out that exact phrase or keywords like “make money” providing you with a much cleaner and low noise stream of data.

If we want companies to buy into social media and it’s usefulness we must create ways to filter out noise and hone in on the value.

Affordable Integrated CRM

I used to work with a chef that would constantly say that hey forgot more recipe’s than all of us in the kitchen had ever learned. Recently, I’m starting to feel like I have forgotten people that I wish I hadn’t forgotten about! What’s the point of generating relationships in the social space if there is no way to effectively and easily create a database? How cool would it be if there was a tool that allowed us to click on a drop-down menu and add notes about that person as well as add them to a database segmented by interests or profession? This may sound automated and not human, but it’s unrealistic to think that your mind can operate at a level where you never misplace a thing!

If being successful in social spaces is about being helpful to others then we are going to need tools that allow us to build custom databases.

My suggestion to the folks that are creating these types of tools and sitting at their whiteboard brainstorming is to get together and create something that is not silo’d. We see new Tweetdeck and Seesmic Desktop like tools come out almost on a daily basis, but I fail to change because none of them have added more value; they have simply reorganized. Myself and many others would be willing to pay for a well integrated tool that goes beyond facilitating conversation. What do you think?

Just this morning I got off a business call with an agency that represents many great brands. The owner wants to help these brands get more involved in the social space and my immediate reaction is to tell them to be human. Her response to me was, “It scares the living daylights out of them!” Now while many readers and commenters on this blog will ask “why” there are many of you reading this that are saying “damn straight” this space is scary and wont even leave a comment for fear of maybe saying something wrong. (Leave comments anyway!)

My point to this article is as the title states; Twitter is not Social Media! Social Media is not just about joining the conversation and human interactions.

Social Media in my opinion is a white board, a blank slate where companies and individuals have the ability to use a myriad of tools including audio, video, and text to effectively communicate, engage, educate, market, and share ideas in a way that is strategically advantageous to the objective of that business, brand or individual.

There is no doubt in my mind that in five to ten years time the majority of relevant businesses on this planet will be interacting with these tools as if they were an extension of the way they do business, but right now that is not the case. Video, Audio, Mobile and emerging technologies are still daunting to most individuals and businesses. Using them strategically is another level all together.

Examples:

> If I handed my father an iPhone and told him to communicate and add value to the twitter community he would look at me cross-eyed. Ad to this my father is a certified genius who loves gadgets and cool new things and you’ll see what I mean.

> Two nights ago I spoke in front of a group that was attending a workshop on how to use twitter. Yea! How to use twitter. What comes naturally to many of us does not come naturally to others. I could have rolled out a sleeping bag and answered questions and concerns for two days.

Social media leverages the most powerful set of publicly accessible tools that the world has ever known. Twitter is one of those tools. In fact New York Times best selling Author Chris Brogan calls twitter the new Dial Tone for the 21st century. However, when your approaching social media especially for business purposes you must take a holistic approach. there are hundreds of available tools to create media of all types that gets distributed to millions of audience segments. Don’t be limited in thinking that social media is just interacting on twitter or posting videos to YouTube. Start with your objectives and apply the tools that fit!

REVISED ADDITION

Just a few hours after writing this article I received a message from Venessa Miemis. She shared this very appropriate graphic with me that she created and I in turn would like to share it with you. Make sure you check out her blog for the full sized version and her insights! Smart Cookie.

Why am I writing this you ask? Well, I have been in the community and social media space for a few years now and have been helping companies navigate through these waters as well as Educate and implement strategic digital programs. I never realized that the quaint Coffee shop model is literally what every company large and small is striving for! Follow me here:

This Coffee shop:

~ Has Clientele that returns daily. I see the same people nearly every time I am here. Sounds like a website that you can’t live without checking into daily.

~ Offers a Large open space with plush chairs and couches to bed down for hours if I prefer. You wish your website was that sticky!

~ Has a friendly staff that gets to know you by name and can even predict your daily order. Are you manning your website presence? Or are you creating a presence and leaving your visitors to fend for themselves?

~ Provides a high quality product that satisfies the needs of a diverse population. Are you finding out where your traffic is coming from through analytics? Are you serving up content that suits their needs?

~ Offers free wifi enabling me to work efficiently as I sip my latte. Are you enticing traffic through high quality content or tools that they can make use of and keep them coming back?

~ Is set up in a communal fashion. Chairs are not in rows, but organically placed to encourage community interaction and sharing. Just yesterday I shared some information with a local real estate salesperson about how he can leverage the social web. Are you fostering interaction and putting handles on your ideas so that they can be easily picked up and shared?

Print this out… copy it and see how you score. Let me know what you think you could be doing to better your digital properties. Better yet, let me know what I could do to improve your experience here

The Shift

I want to start at the beginning here and talk about the huge shift from brick and mortar establishments to online spaces. Just a few years ago you could walk into just about any Best Buy in the country and you would have had to wait in line to cash out and fight with crowds to check out the newest iPod release. I don’t know the exact facts and figures here, but what I can tell you is that I have been in two Best buy stores in the past month. Once on a weekday and once on a Saturday and I could have driven a golf ball through them both without fear of hitting anyone! These customers have not disappeared! They have not fallen off cliffs and interest in high tech items has not fallen off. The attention has simply shifted to online retailers. I know it looks like I am picking on Best Buy here, but this phenomenon rings true with tha majority of all industries.

Companies Observing the Shift and Fearing for their Life!

I gave a presentation recently at Blog World Expo and I was approached by a company executive of a large fortune 50 company who told me that they will not engage in social media because the space is too wild, uncontrolled and chaotic. My response to him was simply “The space is chaotic when the attention has shifted by the consumer, but the organizations focus continues to hold on to the past!” If you had 500 customers in a brick and mortar location and only had one person to check them out, service them, answer questions, and stock shelves…then YES it’s going to be real chaotic! How many massive retail based websites do you know of that have zero human presence? What gives?

Old School Agencies and consultancies giving really bad advice!

I am banging really hard on my laptop keys now as this subject raises my blood pressure about 100 points! Lets look at a possible scenario. Company X sees profits declining in their traditional business model. Company X receives reports telling them that mainstream ad’s are dropping in effectiveness and that ‘The Twitter’ and ‘The Facebook’ is where they need to set up shop now. So naturally Company X approaches their 3rd party agencies about reallocating investments to the digital and social media space. Well, like any good agency they run over and google ‘How to set up a Facebook fan page and a Twitter account’ and off to the races they go! Maybe they even work in some mainstream ad promotions to beef up the follower counts of these well oiled (sarcasm) social media initiatives.

The Fan Woody – TGI Fridays Fail

I can’t tell you how much I despise writing about social media failures. This space is so new that it seems unfair to be picking on a company for trying. However, that being said it is important to at the very least understand the basics of social media before going all out. Check out this TGI Fridays ad that ran about a month ago all over the US.

The initiative was to get Woody (TGI Fridays) 500,000 fans by September 30th 2009. In return these fans would then receive a coupon for a free Jack Daniel’s Burger. Well they did it. In fact they were able to generate over a million fans to their Facebook page! Sounds great in theory, but what really happened was they brought over a million people into one place with full freedom of speech and they had no moderation or understanding of the implications. When no one actually received their coupon for a free burger chaos ensued and is still going on in their facebook page 24 hours a day seven days a week. Here is a screen capture of the fanpage.

It’s pretty clear here that people are not becoming advocates for the brand, enjoying the experience or finding satisfaction in any way. This is not an anomaly as I have visited this page three times and each visit has been really ugly. What can they do? Today Woody has approximately 300,000 fans. Thats a drop by over 700,000! MASSIVE OPPORTUNITY LOST!

Please Understand! It’s a human Web!

The Image here represents what I love most about the new socially driven web.

This is a picture of Katie Richman from ESPN kissing her kids goodnight from the hallway floor of Blog World Expo. I am leaving you with this image because I believe it shows not only the humanity of the web, but also the possibilities!

Stop leaving your online properties unattended! The web has shifted from metal boxes and wires to heartbeats and humans! Treat us with respect!

Please feel free to leave your two cents in the comments! If your brand tell us why this space scares you! If your an individual tell us how you want to be treated. At the end of the day we are all both brands and individuals. This should be a no brainer!

December 2, 2009 ~ 11am-2pm ~ Knights of Columbus. 2735 Union Rd, Cheektowaga

Social Media adoption is growing at a pace faster than any other technology in history! You have heard of Facebook, Twitter and Linked in, and there is a good chance that someone has told you that you NEED to be there! If you are anything like I was you are asking “Where do I start?”. This extremely affordable Lunch and Learn will not only give you a complete overview of the technology, but will give you real world applications and actions for your business. Whether you are a sole proprietor, a small business or a large organization we will cover the demographics, ethics, techniques, opportunities and benefits of Social Media. REGISTER

Itinerary

11AM-12PM ~ Keith Burtis will give a one hour interactive presentation on:

• Ethics and Culture of the Social Media Space.
• The Difference between Social Media and Social networking.
• How Social and Search are changing the way people buy and locate products and services.
• How you can leverage Social Media for Search, Marketing, and Brand Building.
• Blogging, Twitter, Facebook, Linked In and more…..

12PM-12:45PM Lunch

We’ll have a wonderful catered lunch and you’ll have the ability to mingle and network with your fellow attendees.

12:45-2PM – Interactive Session and Q&A’s

In the last session of the day we will dig into the “How To for Business” of Social Media. We will take the education from the first half of the day and apply it to your business. We can discuss specific applications and answer any questions you might have. Too often you go to an exciting educational event and you leave motivated but without the practical action steps. We limit our workshops to 45 people and this gives us the ability to get to everyones questions.

This Lunch and Learn is a practical, interactive and fun three hours. The workshop is all about YOU and will not be a glorified sales pitch for further services. Register quickly to get your seat. Organizations are welcome.

Registration Fee: $65.00 ~ Click Here to Register Online

If you prefer to register by phone or have questions please call Keith Burtis at: 716.464.8938

You may also contact via email at: keith[at]keithburtis[dot]com

More About Keith Burtis

1. Opportunity is at your front door. Sometimes I find people are actually looking past what is right in front of them. Become in tune with the space and opportunity around you. Look for low hanging fruit and for people that are literally asking for your services and knowledge. Sometimes we can get so caught up in the seeking that we fail to see the obvious.

2. Follow Through on Existing Work – The best way to generate business is to do AMAZING work for the person, organization or company you are working with right now! So many of us begin to look to the next job or the next contract wondering where that might come from and forget that someone is paying you to do something for them right now! Knock it out of the park for your current client and I’m betting you’ll see referrals come your way.

3. Listen to your Gut! Don’t take on projects just because there may be potential opportunity there, take a project because it inspires you! How do you get work that inspires you??? Easy.. Inspire others! If you have a lead that doesn’t fit you; pass it on to someone who just might be a perfect fit for that role or opportunity. I received a referral just yesterday morning from a friend that asked if I would like to speak to a corporate IT department about the effects that social media might play into their division in the future. This is right up my alley and I am grateful for the recommendation!

4. Set Clear Intentions - I don’t mean to get all metaphysical on you but you’d be amazed at what simple intentions of the mind can do for you when seeking a specific type of client to work with. For myself I am really, really passionate about flyfishing and the outdoors. However, I make my living helping companies navigate and leverage the social media space. My intention is to work with a company on a super cool interactive project that ties both my passion of flyfishing and outdoors to my core business of social media and digital consulting. This has not happened as of yet, but I have no doubt that in the future it will.

What pieces of advice can you share for the new consultant, service provider or business owner? Please share your experiences!

7Th Son Descent is a thriller novel written by JC Hutchins. To be 100% transparent JC is a good friend of mine and I was honored to be able to read this book before it officially hit the shelves. Let me tell you! This book is a thrill ride from cover to cover that you will not want to put down.

Master Story Teller

I first learned of JC Hutchins and his story-telling when he released his 7th Son podcast! From the first line of the first book I was hooked. In fact I was so effected by the book that I decided to make a wood sculpture themed after the “Cloning Chamber”, one of the coolest key elements in the book. I don’t want to give away the plot and I certainly don’t want to give you any spoilers, but if a blend of Mystery, Sci-Fi, Crazy Hackers, Clones, and Action get your blood boiling you’ll want to pick this book up for yourself and your closest friends!

My Offer!

- UPDATE – The five copies are now accounted for. Here are the winners: Anthony Miller, Brandon Winrich, David Sobkowiak, Jeff Cope, and Joel Gerhold. They were responsible for purchasing almost 50 copies! Wow! Thank you all so much, and let’s keep this going for J.C. let’s do him proud!

I have purchased five Copies of JC’s 7th Son Descent. If you decide to make a purchase of three books or more and one of the first five to contact me with proof, I will guarantee that you will receive a signed copy compliments of myself and Mr. Hutchins! These are copies that I have purchased because frankly I love this guy and I’d do anything to see him be successful!

The Details!

Purchase three or more books and take a screen shot of your purchases or receipt and I will guarantee that you are sent a signed copy Free of charge! The offer is limited to the first five (for now) to email me with their proof of purchase. My email is keith (at) keithburtis (dot) com.

BUY YOUR COPIES NOW!!!!

The Ascent of 7th Son Descent!!!

The 7th Son Inspired Artwork I created in 2008

Order, Order Order, and lets drive JC Hutchins up the charts to New York Times Best Seller!

1. Create a Human Agenda ~ Panels, Keynotes and sessions are great, but the hallway conversations are often times where the real learning and connections happen. Don’t get blinded by the schedule and walk away feeling like you’ve just been to a day of school and haven’t connected with anyone. Have a human agenda.

2. Define what you want ~ If your a web developer and you want to learn the cutting edge improvements taking place in your industry be sure to meet the trend setters and attend the sessions that are relevant to that subject. If no one is speaking on the subject you are looking for send out a tweet inviting others too meet you in the hall and hold your own hallway summit. If it’s on your mind there is a pretty good chance it’s on the mind of others and you have just connected a like-minded group.

3. Don’t Chase the Tweets ~ The first year I went to SXSW I chased the tweets of my friends. When someone would tweet an after party location or diner at a restaurant I would try to get there to meet them. This rarely works. If your grabbing dinner or heading to a conference after party set these things up with others ahead of time. The amount you save in cab fares will be worth the preplanning.

What are your favorite conference tips?

Picture: Aaron Strout of Powered

First Impressions can leave a lasting effect.

I was 17 years old and I was in the market for my first car. I remember walking through the lot and being all excited and looking at all the shiny new cars on the lot of the local Dodge dealer. In just a few minutes my father and I were approached by a large man that wore a lot of flashy gold jewelry and a sported fast tongue. In his stroll over to me he sized me up and presumed to know what I wanted to spend, the car I should be driving and that if I went to anyone else I would never get that type of opportunity again. My father and I walked away quickly feeling like we needed a hot shower. So what does this have to do with digital marketing or the social media space you ask?

Opportunity: Social media has given you powerful tools to listen to unbiased and unedited conversations that are taking place around your brand, products and services.

Action: Take the time to aggregate real time conversations and learn exactly what your customers and patrons are seeking. More and more time and investment by your target audiences is being spent in the social online space. It is absolutely imperative to to reinvest conversely into the space. If you don’t someone else will and they will eat your lunch. If you don’t know how to do this find someone in your organization that understands the new digital social culture.

Twenty years later and they haven’t changed!

Today, my wife and I were driving past that car dealer that I had gone to as a teenager and saw four men in bright orange suits carrying signs warning consumers about entering that very dealer (Photo Above). Out on the public sidewalk in front of the dealer they paced with signs that said “Buyer Beware” and were offering printed materials warning people about sketchy sales practices going on inside. What lessons can be brought from this?

Fact: Consumers are not afraid to take action when they feel they have been wronged. Isolated offline incidents are becoming digitally logged events that go on to live with the effected individual and organizations forever.

Opportunity: As powerful as digital tools are for spreading bad news it is just as powerful for spreading good news. Companies and individuals that provide real value, foster trust, and put their customers first will reap the rewards of their culture.

Action: Create an interactive digital presence that allows your biggest fans to become your best advocates. Foster online community and bring your offline attitudes and procedure into the online space.

How are you shifting your offline strengths to the online space?