What Would @CharlieSheen Tweet?

[Editor's note: I originally prepared this post before Charlie Sheen got on Twitter. I guess we don't have to wait any more - the real stuff is heads and shoulders above anything I could have come up with on my own.]

Almost four years ago (!) when Twitter began to hit a fever pitch coming out of SXSW Interactive, I found a post called What Would Jesus Twitter? Leaving aside that we now know the verb is "tweet," I attempted to jump-start a meme by creating my own (What Would Sherlock Holmes Twitter?) and tagged some other people to develop their own.

In the spirit of that, I jotted down a few thoughts on the plane back from Europe yesterday, blissfully unaware of the goings-on at the time.

What would @CharlieSheen tweet?


10. I need more roles like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRbzZG_JxYY
9. My publicist must like Apocalypse Now too. I just heard him say "The horror! The horror!"
8. Chuck Norris is such a wuss. #tigerblood
7. You know that virulent bacteria strain at the Playboy Mansion? Guilty.
6. @Gaddafi, you need to more #winning. Follow me for lessons in public image.
5. The only drug I'm on is cocaine porn stars Charlie Sheen.
4. Those aren't porn stars. They're libido management specialists.
3. Hey Dior, I'm available as a spokesperson.
2. @EmilioEstevez You don't have any Mighty Ducks sequels I could appear in, do you?
1. I've been sober since noon.

Sheen's ascent on Twitter has been getting some headlines lately, including a Guinness World Record for "Fastest Time to Reach 1 Million Followers." With his recent barrage of surprise press appearances - which caused his publicist to resign - he is clearly taking the tactic of bringing his message directly to the public.

Is this a dangerous practice for someone whose stability is questionable? What role does or should a public relations effort play with such a volatile client who is annexing social media platforms to get his message out? Are there wider lessons for clients in crisis mode?

And just for fun: what other outrageous statements do you think we'll see from @CharlieSheen? Please leave a comment below. Labels: crisis, news, PR

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There's Hearing, Then There's Listening

We were all probably taught the difference between listening and hearing when we were children. "I hear you," you say. No doubt you've uttered that or had it uttered to you. But is it enough?

We all have a fundamental need to be heard; that implies that we're acknowledged, certainly. Technically, hearing is simply the process of sound being transmitted and received. Telling someone that you've heard them is a good first step, and while that's an easy way to make a customer feel appreciated by a major brand, there are times when it needs to go beyond hearing and to truly listen: to take to heart what they've said and take a harder look at a business practice or service.

It's a cinch
Case in point: Cinch.

This service launched in 2009 and is basically an audio blogging platform. Think of it as a Twitter for podcasting. It allows people to record and upload thoughts via a voice platform and then to share online. It's a great service and admittedly one that I haven't utilized enough. Yet.

On May 31, Cinch announced to its customers via email that it would be changing the service's URL from http://www.cinchcast.com to the shorter http://icin.ch. Easier to remember, right? And since they have an iPhone app, iCinch seemed logical.

Evidently not.

Customers didn't take it that way, at least. And while I didn't see any violent backlash online, the team at Cinch must have gotten an earful, for on June 1 - the very next day - they issued the following email to their customer base:

Yesterday, when we sent out the message regarding our upcoming website transition from http://cinchcast.com/ to http://icin.ch/, we heard back from several of our community members that they did not like the new domain choice. While it was short, they thought it was hard to remember and share with others, and did not clearly represent the Cinch brand.


Well, we took your feedback to heart. We still need to transition domains on June 7, 2011. However, we have decided to transition the Cinch website to http://cinch.fm instead. Again, other than the URL change this transition will be seamless to our users.


Please let us know if you have any questions. We apologize for any confusion.

Best Regards,
The Cinch Team

What did they do that was so remarkable? First, they let their audience know what they were trying to do, namely simplify the domain name to make it easier for the customer. Second, they acknowledged that they heard their customers' feedback. Lastly, they took it a step further and made it clear that they listened to their customers and provided a solution that not only met the business need but the customers' need as well.

As you think about your business and your daily interaction with fans, followers, customers and all kinds of stakeholders, consider how often you hear what it is they're trying to convey versus how you're listening to what it is they're saying. Are you acknowledging them simply for the sake of making them feel good, or are you truly building their daily drumbeat of feedback into your business model?

Last year, Nestle found out the hard way that Greenpeace meant business when the latter staged a Facebook attack on the confectioner. Greenpeace objected to the process of harvesting palm oil for the manufacture of Kit Kats and barraged Nestle with plenty of negative wall posts as well as one horrific, if memorable, video. But in the end, Nestle listened to their detractors and changed their business policy to a "zero deforestation policy" to reflect a more responsible and acceptable practice.

So the next time you're faced with feedback - from fans or detractors - you should ask yourself, "Are we listening?" The benefits could be tangible.

After all, it's a cinch.

Photo credit: x-ray delta one (Flickr) Labels: conversation, customer relations, social media takeaways, strategy

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YouTube Comments

How many sensible and well-reasoned comment threads have you seen on YouTube?

Go ahead and think about it. I'll wait.

Have your answer? Me too. The number you're looking for is ZERO. All too often the threads devolve into inane commentary, not to mention hateful or offensive language. There's a definite lack of civility going on there.

I wonder how many individuals, brands or companies are spending efforts on keeping up with YouTube comments, and if they do, how worthwhile those conversations are? To me, the currency and dialog of YouTube has always been other videos made in response to an original video.

I could be wrong, though. What has your experience told you?

Image courtesy of Indexed. Labels: communities, social media, strategy, Video

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Too. Many. Channels.

A little Friday fun. You'd think it would be easier to keep in touch with your contacts these days thanks to the many ways we have to communicate. Phone, email, texting , IM, Twitter @replies and DMs, Facebook messages - and let's not forget about good old fashioned written notes.

But somehow, we've made it more complicated. Everyone has his or her own preference of how they're predisposed to communicate and be contacted, and it's a challenge, to say the least, to manage all of these channels and keep a mental Rolodex of preferences. Is there a solution? I don't know. But Allen Mezquida shared his latest Smigly animation with me, and it captures it well.

Warning: there may be some offensive language in the video

Do you have a solution? Or do you just muddle along like Smigly above?
-- Labels: Friday Fun, Video

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The New Wave of Online Brand Management

Guest post by Matt Polsky.

Prior to the rise of social networks, online brand management solely focused on common SEO techniques such as keywords, content, and proper HTML code. These techniques were used to secure and maintain the top positions on the search engines, and to ensure that only content a company wanted to remain visible regarding its product, services, or mission did so.

However, those days are over. A company can no longer rely only on SEO to provide proper online brand management if they wish to survive in the online world. Company’s now must integrate SEO techniques with the use of social media sites if they wish to protect and promote their brand.

Social media sites have become increasingly important for companies wishing to outperform their competition. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn have opened up completely new audiences to companies, which would have otherwise not been able to be reached. For many companies’ marketing teams these social networking sites have been a marketing dream.

After Ford’s monumental success of using social media to build hype for the 2011 Ford Fiesta, companies have been scrambling to adequately market themselves online. Now consumers cannot even watch a commercial or listen to a radio announcement without a Facebook or Twitter logo being given.

However, this increased visibility does come at a price. Companies have access to multiple platforms in which they can strengthen and expand their brands, but these sites can also be detrimental to a company if the accounts are not properly maintained. The 2010 Pew Internet & American Life study found that 58 percent of all consumers with access to the internet research a company’s product or service online before giving them their patronage, and most of those consumers are not going directly to a company’s primary website either. Third party sites, such as Facebook, Viewpoints.com, and Angie’s List have become popular stopping points for company reviews and information.

If a company’s Facebook page is covered in negative press, odds are, the potential customer will immediately move on and check out competitors. For businesses to get the most out of their social media accounts, they need to properly manage each account with frequent posts, updates, and positive press. Companies should also be actively engaging their customers. Not only negative comments need a response, comments and tweets complimenting the business are great openings to build strong brand advocates.

Companies wishing to succeed in the ever-growing online world need to increase their connectivity by incorporating both social media and the latest SEO techniques. Visibility can quickly determine a company’s success or failure, and without social media sites, businesses are giving up inexpensive resources that build brand awareness and hype. As social media sites continue to rise, online brand management will become increasingly more important, and companies should become proactive in managing their social media sites.

Image credit: slagheap (Flickr)

Matt Polsky is the Senior Content Manager for VA Mortgage Center, providing insights learned from the nation’s leading provider of VA home loans. Labels: brand, guest post, search, social networks

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Should Salespeople be Using their Personal Social Accounts for Business?

There is little doubt that social media has an impact on sales. Companies use it every day to generate leads, increase branding, and improve public perceptions. As a marketing tool at the company level, few would contest the potential. What about at the salesperson level?

That was the question that we tried to answer this week during a seminar in Connecticut. We spoke to 80 sales people and another 30 managers at a dealer group to show them the ins and outs of utilizing social media on the personal level. The group is doing well applying social media principals to their company pages, but can individual sales people utilize sites like Facebook to improve their personal sales?

As with everything, there are pros and cons.

If there’s one thing that social media is great for that companies rarely apply it to, it’s customer service. The goal of keeping customers happy while increasing repeat and referral business is a strength of the social web. For individuals, here are the ways that it can help.

Instant Gratification: When someone buys a car, they’re normally in a good mood. They have stepped up into something that they’re probably pretty proud of and sharing it with friends and family is inevitable. A salesperson who has built a personal relationship during the sales process can easily ask someone to be their friend on Facebook, to share a picture shot on an iPhone of them in front of their new car, and to mention them by name in the post. The chances of getting a referral quickly has never been easier.Simple Follow Up: Checking in on people to see how their product is doing for them is a challenge today. People don’t always answer their phones and they answer emails even less frequently. Texting, Facebook, and Twitter have become, for many, the easiest way to get a response. When finding out if someone has gotten their first free oil change, taken their CSI survey, or told their friends about you, social media is the easiest venue.Aggressively Non-Aggressive: After the sale is done, some people do not like being hounded by their salesperson. Social media is a place that can be non-confrontational, allowing sales people to become actual friends with their customers, sharing experiences and commenting on each others’ travails. It’s easier to stir up repeat and referral business a month after you’ve wished someone a happy birthday or congratulated them on getting a new job than when hounding them on phone or email month in, month out.

There aren’t just cons. There are flat-out risks for some. Our personal lives and business lives are not intended to be intertwined. In social media, the lines are more difficult to define when separating the two.

The Personal Faux Pas: Just because a salesperson is professional and polite at work doesn’t mean they don’t get wild and crazy outside of work. What happens on Facebook often stays on Facebook and can turn people off even if the sales process itself was flawless.Added Work: With anything that can drive business, work must be put in. Some sales people do not have the time to attend to their regular customers and still prospect or follow up through social media.The Addiction Potential: Getting into social media for business purposes can lead people to using social media for personal reasons. Sheer exposure to the “fun side” of social media can turn a productivity win into a major failure if the exposure turns into counter-productivity.

Both of these lists are incomplete. There are much more pros and cons to using social media on an individual level in sales. Are there others that you can think of that I missed?

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A Retweet is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

Retro-Refresh: This article, which originally appeared in 2009, was “revived” by recent interest. Nothing has been changed other than the addition of the overly-dramatic image above.

Listening to Guy Kawasaki is always a joy. Regardless of whether you agree with what he is saying or not, he is always both thought-provoking and entertaining. The Alltop co-founder is a living legend in the world of social media and startups and is a must-follow on Twitter for budding online marketing professionals.

During a recent speaking engagement in San Diego, Kawasaki had his normal flurry of quirky, intuitive pieces of advice that struck home with most in the audience. One thing in particular he noted was that “today, a retweet is the sincerest form of flattery.” While I often take retweets for granted with a relatively large Twitter following for a non-celebrity, this one comment made an impact on me.

Since it was less than 140 characters, I naturally tweeted the statement and was surprised by the response. First, it was retweeted 25+ times – nothing too surprising there. What was surprising was that in watching the accounts that retweeted it. They started retweeting… a lot.

Twitter has been a whirlwind of change when you look at the trends within the community. Celebrities, for better or for worse, have “invaded” this little corner of the Internet and made it as mainstream as a website can be. News sources refer to it. Marketers of all levels from the amateur MLM promoter to the likes of Kawasaki and Chris Brogan have embraced the wonderful potential that Twitter offers.  If you’re not on Twitter, you probably aren’t reading this blog post.

One thing that has been lost during this constant state of transition is the art of the retweet. Many users do it. In fact, there are those who do very little other than retweet.  I want to discuss the Why behind retweeting, but for those who need, here’s the…

The topic has been covered ad nauseum. Rather than rewrite the guide, here are some useful perspectives from blogs more astute than this one discussing how to retweet, how to get retweeted, and just about everything to do with the art of the retweet:

Now that you’re a pro retweetist, let’s get to the meat and potatoes.

The genesis of this article was with Guy Kawasaki and his clever one-liner, but the message of this post is much more bland.  Retweets are essential to the continued success of Twitter. It isn’t just about retweeting me or Kawasaki or Shaq, either.

Retweets serve two major purposes. First, they are the primary method of getting important or interesting news out to the world. Whether there’s an earthquake in China or a celebrity death, retweets are necessary to spread news virally and get it in front of the right eyes. The idea that Twitter is still about “What are you doing?” is long gone. Twitter purists will say that I’m wrong, that the mundane aspects of life are what make the site interesting and conversational, but for Twitter to survive and thrive, it’s in retweets and spreading of buzz that the future of the site is golden.

Perhaps more importantly, the retweet keeps others interested. As Guy noted, getting retweeted is flattering. People enjoy being able to see that others found what they posted interesting enough to share it with their followers.  If Nielsen is to be trusted, 60% of U.S. Twitter users stay for less than a month. If it were possible to examine the habits and streams of those who leave, I would venture a guess that they weren’t getting retweeted often. Maybe they didn’t say anything interesting enough. Perhaps they didn’t make enough friends. Regardless of why, they left.

The number of quitters would be reduced if those of us who are actively engaged with the site would retweet more often.  It’s that simple.

If you love Twitter as I do, please start retweeting more. It isn’t hard. Most apps have a 1 or 2 click way to retweet. It’s too easy to do and the benefits for the site (and therefore the users) are high if we can help to retain those that give Twitter a shot.

Some things you can do:

Watch your general stream. Even if you follow tens of thousands of people, it isn’t difficult to watch the general stream and pick out the occasional gem that pops up. You’ll be surprised – there really are masterful 140-character-moments hidden within the noise.Search and retweet on the topic of your choice. If you have something to say about a hot topic like #IranElections, chances are someone else has already expressed your sentiments. Find them, retweet them, and add your own flare if you want with the remaining characters.Most stories from popular blogs have already been tweeted by the time you’re read them. The easy temptation is to click the Tweetmeme or Tweet This button. Instead, copy the headline and paste it into Twitter search. You won’t just find someone to retweet – you may find someone new with common interests to follow.

It’s up to you. Retweeting is an important aspect of Twitter. Not everyone is into it, but if you are, it’s time to step up your game.

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Read more about Twitter Marketing on this blog.
Image courtesy of Social Shirt.
File Upload courtesy of Tweetafile.

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