Million Dollar Consultant Alan Weiss Says Social Media Is a Waste of Time for Consultants

One of the most animated discussions about social media I've seen is going on over at Alan Weiss's Contrarian Consulting blog.

His blog post titled Blogs, Facebook, Twitter and Chance has sparked, as of this writing, 60 comments, many of them refuting Weiss's contention that social media (including blogs and Twitter) are a waste of time for consultants promoting professional services to corporate clients.

He also contends that "Blogs are only effective if you already have a brand... a blog follows a brand, not the other way around." Hmmm... not according to Robert Scoble.

Weiss is best known as the author of Million Dollar Consulting* as well as a host of other books and is a consultant (according to his About page) to dozens of Fortune 500 companies. He has a distinctive - some might call it abrasive - personality that seems to go over well with his C-suite clients. His over-the-top style is amusing in person (I've heard him speak) but I find his derogatory tone on his blog - specifically, in response to comments - off-putting.

First up to refute Weiss's low opinion of the business value of social media is Seth Godin.

Seth's feedback is followed by push-back comments from Yvonne DiVita of Lipsticking.com (hey nice re-design, Yvonne!), Tim Walker of Hoover's Biz, Paula Thornton of FASTForward, Mack Collier of The Viral Garden and many others whose blogs I was previously not familiar with. (Some are supportive of Weiss's position, noting that one shouldn't spend too much time on blogging, etc.)

It may be that Weiss is deliberately stirring the pot with phrases like "the Web is a good place to do research... but it's a lousy place to find and meet clients" and "I have no idea who Hugh McLeod is or Robert Scoble." The latter is the perfect bait, of course, for those of us who congregate in the social media space. But a good reminder that we are, to a certain extent, in our own bubble.

As he wrote in a companion post responding directly to Seth: "I seem to have struck a nerve, which is why blogging with a brand behind you is really quite effective." 

What do you think?

Which comes first, generally speaking: a brand or a blog? And, the central question, is social media effective at reaching a corporate audience if that's who your intended clients are??

Both the original post and his follow-up, along with the dozens of comments, are worth a read. I left a comment here.

Aside: oh and I heard about Weiss's post through a Tweet from Yvonne DiVita. Love that viral thing...

*Update and full disclosure: While I may sound critical of Weiss in this entry, his Million Dollar Consulting is one of the most useful books I've read about how to sell your services as a consultant. Focus on the value you're delivering. Never count hours or charge by the hour. Make a business case for what you can deliver. Once you've got your client on board, present your "fee" as an afterthought. The client will almost always bite, he contends.

From BlogPotomac: KD Paine's Speaking Notes and Frank Gruber's List of Bright Shiny Social Media Tools

There was no PowerPoint at BlogPotomac, the unconference held here in DC last week. But two of our speakers have posted their presentation notes.

Measurement queen KD Paine posted her outline of 6 basic steps to measure communications online. Be sure to read also her post on "a new un-standard for social media measurement." She's one of the best out there when it comes to explaining - in persuasive, business terms - how to measure social media.
 

AOL's "Somewhat Frank" Frank Gruber posted an annotated list of social media tools (aka "bright shiny objects") that he uses on a weekly basis. Frank is a product developer for AOL. As such, it's his job to play with cool stuff. Lucky guy.

What's interesting about his list is that he divides the tools or apps into a number of categories beyond "video" and "photos." These include Communications, Storage, Content Discovery & Sharing, Analytics, News & Information Management, Search & Alerts, Lifestream Aggregators, Travel, Finance and Project Management.

There are a number I was not familiar with or have heard about but never tried. Note: some are still in beta. Here are a few that caught my eye:

Travel

TripIt (also see demo)

Lifestream Aggregator

SocialThing

To Do List

Remember the Milk (I used this a while back; am going to try it again. Frank notes that you can pull the To Do lists into your gmail account or iPhone with a pro account.)

Microblogging

Tumblr (Frank's write-up about Tumblr)

Content Sharing

Shareaholic (Firefox browser extension; more details in Frank's write-up)

Search

Lijit (blog search engine with search analytics; more details from Frank)

FiltrBox (better than Google News Alerts, says Frank; still in beta. Use Frank's invite a friend code to sign up: https://www.filtrbox.com/signup.php?code=somewhatfrank)

Read Frank's complete list of "bright shiny objects" here.

Engaged Attendees "Walked" the Social Media "Talk" at BlogPotomac

At one point on Friday June 13, 2008, I looked around the packed Stage Theater, venue of BlogPotomac, and realized that virtually everybody was video interviewing or photographing each other. (Photo at left by Li Evans.)

In other words, they were walking the talk, or promise, of social media. Namely, everyone is a participant and - in the case of an unconference - what goes on in the audience is just as important as what's said on stage.

In addition to co-chairing the event with Geoff Livingston, my role was pretty simple: I introduced some of our terrific speakers and ran around with a mike to amplify audience questions or comments.

I did a bit of Twittering, got interviewed myself by Chris Parandian of Mobile Diner and Li Evans of Search Marketing Gurus, but stupidly forgot to bring my digital Flip camera. It's primitive, but good for 30 - 60 second interviews which can be uploaded to YouTube. (Photo by Li Evans.)

It was wonderful to leave it to the 150-plus attendees to co-create the content of our day-long event. They didn't disappoint.

(Note: it was a typically mixed crowd of DC-ers, from local marketing & PR agencies, to associations and non-profits, to several government agencies, including the EPA and the Pentagon.)

Herewith is a roundup of the digital trail produced by BlogPotomac (links courtesy of Geoff):

• FlickR photos (tagged blogpotomac - ignore the Angelina pics which are "tag spam")
• Google (search results on blogpotomac, including blog entries and images)
• Technorati (search results on blogpotomac)
• Twitter (hundreds of Tweets using hash tag #blogpotomac, via Summize.com)
• Podcasts (uploaded from mobile phones via Utterz.com)
• YouTube (videos tagged blogpotomac)

Thanks to our speakers and sponsors

Sincere thanks again to our engaging and provocative speakers: Lionel Menchaca of Dell, Dan Beyers of The Washington Post, Maggie Fox of Social Media Group, Jeremy Pepper of Boingo, Frank Gruber of AOL, KD Paine of KD Paine & Partners and Kami Huyse, social media consultant.

For more about our speakers, see the Q & A series I did on BlogPotomac.com.

Thanks also to our great line-up of sponsors: Viget Labs, Conference Calls Unlimited, GiantSticker.com, Social Media Club, Social Times, Edelman, Compendium Blogware, Network Solutions, PRSA National Capital Chapter, Boingo and ooVoo.

Take the BlogPotomac survey

If you attended the event, be sure to take the survey to help us prepare for BlogPotomac 2009.

Q & A With Rohit Bhargava, Author of "Personality Not Included"

Newly-published author, digital media strategist and social media celeb Rohit Bhargava is our special guest at the BlogPotomac Speakers' Dinner tomorrow, June 12, 2008. He kindly took time to answer a few questions about social media and, specifically, how he is using it to promote his new book.

Debbie: You've just published your first book, Personality Not Included. Huge congrats! I know what a huge undertaking it is. Tell us a little bit about how you're using social media to promote it.

Rohit: Thanks! Though I didn't write the book to be about social media (it's actually more about a culture shift in business and organizations), using lots of social media tools to promote it has been a key part of my efforts.

Early on, I created a Facebook group where I released exclusive downloads and bonus content, as well as early invites to book launch events. That group is a core of just over 400 people who have been great word of mouth ambassadors for the book - and a group that I consistently try to give something back to in return.

On the day of launch, I also decided to launch a "virtual interview" project by asking bloggers for 5 questions about the book.  I promised to respond to each interview without cutting and pasting responses. Over three days, I got 55 requests and responded to each - creating a huge archive of information and buzz about the book on the same day it launched. The ensuing contest seeking votes for the best interview also got some great conversations happening.

Since then, I've been doing lots of other interviews, attending events, and steadily building buzz with bloggers.  I also have a review program where I'm sending review copies to bloggers, and launched an interesting promotion to encourage reviews of the book (both good and bad) that you can see here: www.personalitynotincluded.com/backcover.

I also have a companion site to the book where I am inviting "100 visionary minds" to all answer the question of why personality matters.  It's called The Personality Project.

The theme throughout all these activities has been that I'm trying to offer something in return instead of just asking for favors.  Every piece of my strategy is designed to offer a reason for people to participate, and then give them something real to talk about.

Debbie: Many, if not most, companies still seem slow to pick up on social media as a marketing and communications strategy. When will that change and why - or why not?

"The theme throughout all these activities has been that I'm trying to offer something in return instead of just asking for favors."

- Rohit Bhargava on using social media to promote Personality Not Included

Rohit: I think part of it is because they are getting some bad advice from the "experts" in this space.  Most people are realizing that there is a conversation going on, but if marketing pros who get social media are telling their clients to "give up control," they are spreading a defeatist message.

I have been pretty vocal about my point of view that the future is about sharing control, and the companies that get it are the ones that are finding smart ways to do that. Sharing is about dialogue, but it also means you do have some amount of control. 

You can decide what to respond to and who to engage with. That's an empowering message that I think we need to spread more freely.  It's also the type of message that will get more companies to engage with social media rather than shy away from it because of fear.

Debbie: If you had a crystal ball and could look ahead two years, what would the cool new thing be (aka Twitter, etc.)?

Rohit: Hmm, the crystal ball question ... I always love to think about this one because it's a tough one to answer without setting yourself up to look like an idiot six months from now when you end up completely wrong! But since I hate people who evade questions, I'll take a stab at it anyway.

I think the greatest area where I see evolution will take us is in the promise of a single "dashboard" view of our digital lives that is portable. For many of us, Facebook comes close simply because we can aggregate our activities on many other sites in one place there - but the future is going to be about seeing our personal interactions side by side with the media (both new and traditional) that we consume.

I think an example from the future will be a dashboard where I can see live updates from my friends attending an event, alongside news reports from the event, alongside a list of friends of mine that are attending and others I may want to add to my network, alongside a stream of content from the event, alongside with the ability to interact and share my voice at the event virtually. 

You can do all of that in pieces right now, but putting the pieces together is where I think the future will take us.

Q & A With Jeremy Pepper of POP! PR Jots

Jeremy Pepper, who blogs at Pop! PR Jots and manages PR & social media for start-up Boingo, is joining us at BlogPotomac this week to talk about strategy. I asked him to give us a sneak preview of his session.

It's not too late to register for BlogPotomac, BTW. There are a few seats left. We're calling BlogPotomac the premiere social media marketing unconference for the Washington DC area and we're expecting a sell-out crowd at The State Theater in Falls Church on Friday, June 13, 2008. More at bottom of post.

Debbie: When people talk about social media they almost always mean the tools (blogging, Twitter, YouTube, etc.). What's the difference between social media tools and a social media strategy?

Jeremy: The tools are nothing without a sound strategy behind them. Yes, there are tons of tools out there - that includes the various blogging platforms, the widgets and add-ons to blogs and Websites, the video sites (Yes, YouTube is huge - but is it the right one for your program?), microblogging (Twitter, Plurk, Tumblr), social networks - but just because you join all of them does not mean you are thinking through what you are doing.

What is the goal? What is the objective? An old boss always gave me the D Day analogy - you have your goal (take Normandy) and you had your tactics (air and ground, via water) and strategies (each army had its own beach, including countries). Okay, the tools here are just the basic premise of what needs to be done ... but are not going to get Normandy - they're just going to get you to the beaches.

The first question before jumping into social media because it's the buzz right now is to ask "why am I doing this?" - if you can answer that, then put together what tools are going to work best to reach the right community. Decide what you want to accomplish with your strategy and start building it out.

Debbie: In one or two sentences, what is at the heart of a social media strategy?

Jeremy: It's not an audience, it's a community. If you are merely looking to use people (a big no-no in Kantian philosophy) and treat them as a means to your end, it is going to fail. Treat each part of the community as a part of the whole, and as an end unto themselves.

Debbie: Are there types of companies or industries (public, private, governmental, non-profit)  that are better suited for employing social media than others?

Jeremy: Does not really matter - social media / social strategy does not depend on the industry, but rather the people in the industry. More to the point, it really depends on the culture of the organization. I have worked with companies that would seem to fully embrace social media, and there was a definite push back and fear. And then there are other companies that are fully into social media, where you are surprised that it has been embraced so fully top-down.

Debbie: Where do you see the social media industry (i.e. consultants, PR 2.0 shops, Web 2.0 companies, etc.) going in the next three to five years?

Jeremy: Disappearing. Actually, I thought they'd be gone by now - the practice groups just absorbed into traditional PR strategies and firms. While we're seeing that happen at the smarter firms, the other (dare I say dumber) firms are still getting their arms around it. And, they might be too late.

A lot of these Web 2.0 PR shops and consultants are unnecessary, and have a short shelf life. The firms - be it advertising or public relations or marketing - will fight to keep that money in their coffers.

Unfortunately, what we will see more of are flim-flam snake-oil salesmen and women, selling in programs that make no sense, but are just buzzwords. No strategy, no thought - just money making scams.

Debbie: Tell us a bit about Boingo, the company you're now involved with.

Jeremy: Boingo is the world's largest Wi-Fi network, with more than 100,000 hotspots worldwide. It's about seven years old, and I was brought in for both traditional and social media relations. It's something that I have been talking about for the past couple of years, though - that there is no reason to have public relations and social media separate. While the media landscape has changed, and made PR somewhat harder than it was in the past, it still boils down to communicating to your community, and listening. That's what I'm doing at Boingo.

NOTE: I'm co-chairing BlogPotomac with DC's PR & social media celeb Geoff Livingston. That's why I get to talk it up so much. Seriously, we think this will be an extremely useful event for marketing and comms professionals across DC - government, corporate, non-profit, etc.

Please note that as an unconference this is not a money-making event. Nor is this an event solely for techies. The unconference format - emphasizing audience participation as a major part of the discussion - should make for a uniquely informative day.

Two Different Takes on Social Media: What Is It Anyway?

Which one works for you?

Below, courtesy of Kami Huyse.

Below, courtesy of Mitch Joel. This one created by the clever Lee Lefever over at Common Craft.

Q & A With Josh Hallett, Founder of BlogOrlando

We're lucky that Josh Hallett, founder of the BlogOrlando unconference, is joining us to emcee BlogPotomac on June 13, 2008. Josh is a new media strategist for Voce Communications. He's Florida-based when he's not traveling and speaking. He's also a hugely talented photographer.

Note: BlogPotomac is selling out. We have limited seating capacity at the historic State Theater (directions) in Fairfax, VA where the unconference is being held. Fairfax, BTW, is a subway ride away from downtown DC. It's also an easy drive. Register here. Learn more about the all-star lineup of speakers and the agenda.

Debbie: Josh, you organized the first BlogOrlando in 2006. What happened that turned it from a gathering of friends into a full-blown unconference?

Josh:The thought was, if all these people were coming to Orlando why not turn it into something bigger.  Also, like many similar events, i.e. BlogPhiladelphia, there had never been an event that brought together bloggers from the Florida market. By keeping it free and relatively basic in size/scope the organization was pretty easy.

Debbie:  Then you forged ahead with BlogOrlando 2007. That turned into a pretty major event. Why?

Josh: I think it was a combination of things:

1. It was still free.

2. It was still the laid-back modified un-conference format.

3. Yes the topic did become more popular and we also had some collaborative promotion going on with local PR and advertising groups.

4. I tried to diversify and reach different segments, that's how we ended up with tracks focussed on Marketing/PR, Journalism, Technology and then Life/Local.  It was interesting to see some of the crossover though.  What I mean is the number of Marketing/PR people in the tech track or the journalism track.

5. Orlando is a great destination....it's easy to convince speakers to 'visit' when we can offer them access/behind-the-scenes tours of Kennedy Space Center, Universal and EPCOT.

Debbie: What is your biggest lesson learned that you can pass on to us for BlogPotomac 2008?

Josh: The one lesson I share with just about every group that has followed this model (BlogSavannah, SoCon in Atlanta, BlogPhiladelphia, BlogCarolinas, etc) is that with a free event it's important to keep the big costs in check, usually that's food. BlogOrlando has never offered food, everybody is on their own for lunch. 

With a free event it's easy for people to sign-up, and just as easy for them not to show up. Budgeting for 200+ people for food, but only having 100 show up can put a big dent in your budget. I know that BlogPotomac has a small fee [Ed note: US $75], which helps with this.    

Debbie: I see that May 2008 marks the 5th anniversary of blogging for you (kudos, BTW). Has your    approach to blogging, whether it's style, subject matter or passion, changed over the years?

Josh: It has, more and more my personal blog focuses on what I am passionate about and what I'm doing.  Today that's a mixture of travel (what I'm doing) and photography (what I'm passionate about).  More of my industry-specific content is now posted to Vocenation. I also see that the people I really respect in the industry also post less than they used to, we're all very busy.    

Debbie: You and I will be emcee'ing BlogPotomac together. Should we rehearse ahead of time - or just wing it?

Josh: Luckily I know just about every presenter so I can say something personal about them during the intro so that helps with the prep.  Are we allowed to use cue cards? :-)

Debbie: Yup.

Q & A With BlogPotomac Co-chairs Geoff Livingston and Debbie Weil

Geoff Livingston and I decided to interview each other as part of the Q & A series leading up to BlogPotomac, to be held here in Washington DC on June 13, 2008. Our social media marketing unconference is rapidly selling out, BTW, so don't wait if you want to attend. Register here.

We got a little more serious in our mutual interview than I intended. Namely, I forgot to mention that Geoff is a funny guy. I thought it would be a kick to work with him on the event; he hasn't disappointed...

Question: Why are you co-chairing BlogPotomac?

Debbie: First, because Geoff was kind enough to ask me. But second and more important, I fervently want to see a coherent social media community develop in Washington DC, as it has in many other cities. When I say coherent, I mean offline as well as online. And not just the cool young geeks. But to include marketers and comms professionals of all ages in the public, private and non-profit sectors.

Washington, as wonderful as it is, is a very dispersed place. Virginia, Maryland, Capitol Hill, in-town DC - they're concentric circles that don't overlap very well. Like Geoff, I also want to give back to my hometown of almost 26 years.

Geoff: I got the idea from BlogOrlando and Josh Hallett. I thought that was exactly what DC needed, a great social media marketing event to pull us all together. So I started mulling how to do it.

Because Debbie and I were becoming friends and I wanted this event to be represented by the area's leading social marketing minds, it made sense to chair it with her. It's been great working with her, and she has helped me see some aspects of social media I would not have been introduced to if not for BlogPotomac.

Ironically, the third and actually the highest top ranked social media blogger in the area, Rohit Bhargava, ended up being our opening night speaker. So the top three marketing bloggers in the region according to the AdAge 150 -- all authors by the way (see here and here and here) -- have come together to bring best social media practices to DC.

For me, it's a service, and a way of giving back to a region that has been my professional home since 1994.

Question: Why aren't you one of the speakers?

Debbie: Because Geoff and I agreed that we didn't want or need the limelight with such a stellar line-up of speakers. Viget Labs, the third silent partner in this endeavor, who designed the logo and site, also felt that participating through organizing and creating the conference was the best way to move forward.

However, attendees will be hearing me throughout the day (Friday June 13, 2008) as I introduce our speakers along with fellow emcee Josh Hallett.

Geoff:  I will actually be speaking in DC three times in June, and I attend a lot of events already. Aaron Brazell and I run our District of Corruption podcast, and my company is interim steward of the local Social Media Club. Locally, I feel I am accessible, and people have heard or are about to hear my schtick.

I felt the value was introducing local marketers to people they haven't heard, but that I have been blessed enough to meet during my journey. I know that Debbie and Brian Williams from Viget Labs felt the same way. I also felt having Josh Hallett there was really important as he started this whole BlogX thing.

As Livingston Communications is running the finances and operations  of the event, having him emcee accomplished two purposes: Honor Josh, and free me to handle issues and make sure the event goes off smoothly. I will do the initial introduction of  Debbie and Josh. The rest is pure service.

Question: What do you hope BlogPotomac will achieve?

Debbie: I've outlined my big picture goal above. More specifically, I'd like our attendees to leave with at least half a dozen specific ideas they can execute back at their offices, no matter what size their budget or how large or small their staff.

As they say... blog on. Or in this case... just do it!

Geoff: If everyone walks out understanding that social media is more than blogs and blogger relations, I'll feel like a champ. I also hope people will feel encouraged and excited to go experiment. Lastly, I hope we make a little profit to donate to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Q & A With Social Media Group's Maggie Fox

Maggie Fox is one of the great speakers we've got lined up for BlogPotomac, the social media marketing unconference which takes place on June 13, 2008 in Falls Church, VA (just outside Washington DC). I caught up with Maggie recently to find out more about her background and what she'll be talking about.

Note: We are expecting BlogPotomac to sell out. It's just over three weeks away so register now if you're interested in joining us! In keeping with the unconference format, Maggie and the other speakers will be delivering informal presentations - no PowerPoint - with plenty of time for Q&A with attendees.

Debbie: You describe yourself in your Twitter profile as a "licensed social media professional." What is that?

Maggie: Mostly that's a joke. A little bit of irony for my readers - this is such a new space that consultants and others who dare to call themselves "experts" are often publicly criticized, so I thought I'd suggest that I had gone through some sort of certification process. In the Bahamas.

Debbie: Tell us a bit about Social Media Group (based in Toronto), of which you are CEO.

Maggie: SMG is one of the largest and best-known pure-play social media agencies in the world, and our model is a unique blend of business consulting and agency execution. Rather than coming in with the "big idea" (which is old agency style) we take the time to determine what the right idea is, and then (unlike consulting firms) we are responsible for that vision and actually work to execute it.

We like to think of it as the best of both worlds.  Our clients naturally agree, and they include Ford Motor Company, SAP Global Marketing, Yamaha and Harlequin Publishing, among others. We have some major new client announcements coming soon as well.

We have four main areas of practice: Social Media Strategy & Education, Reputation Measurement and Monitoring, "Build", which includes our proprietary social media press release platform, called Digital Snippets and Influencer Outreach. We've developed a number of innovative methods and processes around these four areas for our clients, particularly in the measurement department.    

Debbie: Social Media is the new buzz phrase among the online cognoscenti. Do you think it's the right phrase to describe the phenomenon? What in your words *is* social media?

Maggie: That's a little like trying to describe art ;-) I like to describe social media as the online tools and platforms that enable people to communicate and share digital content.

The technology part of it is actually quite irrelevant (this quarter it's Twitter, next quarter it might be something completely different) so it's important not to get hung up on the platform and concentrate instead on understanding the behaviour.

A typical question asked is whether Web 2.0 is a fad, and my answer is always an emphatic NO.

Starting in the mid-90's the Internet began allowing people (largely via email lists) to organize themselves not by geography (as had been the case throughout human history) but by interest (this is something that a government organization called Statistics Canada has been actively tracking for the last decade).

"The exciting thing is (social media) is really still fetal."
- Maggie Fox, Social Media Group

The growth of communities of interest and the acceleration of the ability to self organize is what underpins social media (all thanks to greater broadband access).

Throw into the mix the phenomenon that Clay Shirky refers to as the Cognitive Surplus (the notion that up until 50 years ago the concept of "free time" did not exist, and society turned to TV, and now we're going online to fill it) and you have a profound social shift.

The exciting thing is it's really still fetal, but happening so fast we will see massive transformation of the media landscape within a decade or so (maybe even less).    

Debbie: Can you give us a quick preview of what you'll be talking about at BlogPotomac?

Maggie: The session is about the Latest Trends in Social Media Marketing, and it's an "unconference" model (something I have referred to in the past as a User-Generated Presentation), so the content is in the audience's hands.

I'll do a brief blurb (no powerpoint!) about some of the stuff that I've mentioned above, since a clear understanding of the origins of all this does everyone well.

But rather than focussing on what the trends are today, I'd like to steer the discussion in the direction of getting ahead of them, and understanding what criteria you need for success, regardless of what you're doing.

Of course we will discuss tactical examples of social media being used in a way that aligns with business objectives, but the content will literally be in the hands of the audience.

What do you want to know? Come prepared with your questions! I'm hoping it will be highly interactive and challenging.

Debbie: You're based in Toronto. Are Canadian companies behind or ahead of the U.S. in terms of their use of social media?

Maggie: To be honest, we don't really do a lot of work with Canadian companies - most of our work is international, with a focus on the U.S. That being said, Canada is always a little behind new marketing and communications trends that originate south of the border; I think it just takes time to filter up here.

Two important points, however: Canada is the most wired nation on earth (highest percentage of broadband Internet users) and an astounding one-in-four Canadians has a Facebook profile. At one time, Toronto had the largest FB network of any city in the world, but it's recently been passed by London, England (though not by much, relatively speaking).

If Canadian companies are lagging a bit, I'm not sure how much longer they can afford to do so!

Q & A With Goddess of Measurement KD Paine

KD Paine is one of the (terrific) speakers we've got lined up for BlogPotomac, Washington DC's premiere social media marketing event coming up on June 13, 2008 (go for it... register here). I snagged her for a quick Q & A to give us a preview of her topic "Measurement and Value."

Note: In keeping with the unconference format (see here and here) of BlogPotomac, KD and the other speakers will be delivering informal presentations - no PowerPoint - with plenty of time for Q&A with attendees.

Debbie: Tell us briefly about your company KD Paine & Partners.

KD: We provide measurement and evaluation of communications programs – including traditional and social media, internal and external programs. We've been doing this stuff for 22 to years, and measuring consumer generated media for 13 years.

We design measurement programs for clients, helping them to define their "dashboards" of things they want to track. We also provide  the human element – working with firms like Buzz Logic to provide human coding in order to get social media to an acceptable accuracy level.. We also provide the so-what – connecting the data to actual business outcomes.

Debbie: You're being called The Queen Of Measurement. But on your Twitter page you say you prefer to be called the Goddess Seshat. Who the heck is that? 

KD: There actually was a goddess of measurement called Seshat - and in this day and age Queen is just a bit too "command and control" as opposed to  a goddess that inspires followers and gives birth to new metrics.

KD Paine... a goddess who inspires followers and gives birth to new metrics.

Debbie: I know you're on the road constantly these days, speaking to audiences both in the U.S. and abroad. What's the single most frequent question you get about measuring the effectiveness of online PR?

KD: What impact does it have on the bottom line. Sure, I can track rank and followers and all kinds of things, but how do I know its worth the effort ?

Debbie: Another BlogPotomac speaker, Kami Watson Huyse, has done a nifty video interview with you where you outline your Super Six Steps to Effective PR Measurement. As BlogPotomac is focused on social media, would you change anything or add to the list?

KD: Not a thing. I think that if everyone started off following those 6 steps, we have a lot more measurement (as opposed to monitoring which is what most people are doing) .

Debbie: Any quick thoughts on some of the new metrics - engagement, participation, velocity, community - being used to measure the impact of social media?

KD: Yes I'm a big believer in measuring engagement but I think it has to go way beyond repeat visits, and sentiment and tonality. I think we have to start asking the customers not just are they engaged but do they trust us, are they committed to a long term relationship, are they satisfied with the relationship. That's why I called my book Measuring Public Relationships.

Sun's Tim Bray on the Three Components of a Successful Blog

Just finished participating in Bulldog Reporter's Webinar: Corporate Blogging Update for PR. Fellow panelists were John Earnhardt of Cisco and Tim Bray of Sun Microsystems. Our able moderator Jon Greer kept things moving right along. Fun.

Tim has been "online" since, er, at least 1983. That's 25 years. Here's a Usenet posting dated Aug. 31, 1983 from his blog archive: Doesn't Anyone Out There Read Anymore?

Wow. And I thought I was cool. I've been "online" since about 1992. Put up my first Web site in 1995. Here's a peek at my site in 1996, according to the Way Back Machine. Note: I was primarily a journalist back then, before B-school and marketing.

So it was interesting to see Tim's slides and hear his riff on corporate and employee blogging. Spot on.

According to Tim, the three most important components of a successful blog are: 1. Good writing 2. Interesting person 3. Valuable material.

Best to have all three, he said. Sometimes you can get away with two out of three. Less than that, it won't work.

His slide, below, looked exactly like this. Unadorned. The best PowerPoint style IMHO, if you absolutely have to use it.

Q & A With Dell Chief Blogger Lionel Menchaca

With BlogPotomac coming up in seven weeks [hey, register here], I asked Dell Chief Blogger Lionel Menchaca to tell us a bit more about Direct2Dell and Dell's other community (aka social media) initiatives. Lionel is giving the opening keynote on Friday June 13, 2008.

Note: In keeping with the unconference format (see here and here) of BlogPotomac, Lionel and the other speakers will be delivering informal presentations - no PowerPoint - with plenty of time for Q&A with attendees.

Debbie: Does your Dell business card say "Chief Blogger" on it? Was it your idea to give yourself that title and what, in fact, does it mean?

Lionel: No, because I haven't ordered more cards yet. It will though. It was my idea, and the main reason was to reflect our expansion beyond one centralized blog. We now have blogs in several languages as well as three group blogs: Cloud Computing, Inside IT and Small Business. And more will be coming soon.

As we expand, part of my job is to know what is happening across all of these sites. Ultimately though, my job is to help our customers find the information they're looking for. Sometimes I may point to a discussion that's happening on one of our other blogs. Other times, I may contribute posts on other blogs. The title Chief Blogger seemed to communicate that in a straightforward way, so I went with it.

Debbie: Blogosphere watchers say it took Dell an awfully long time (a year) to start its corporate blog after Jeff Jarvis's Dell Hell blog rant. Tell us briefly how and why Dell's blog got started.

Lionel: Our work in this space began just over two years ago when Michael Dell asked our group to find customers in the blogosphere who were blogging about hardware issues to provide technical support. Several weeks into that process, we shared a broader social media strategy plan with Michael--Direct2Dell was part of that. We launched the blog in July, 2006.

Debbie: You are one of the first companies to publish your blog(s) in languages other than English. Are there plans for more languages? (Note: there is a "global community" section on Dell's Community page.)

Lionel: Yes, we currently also have blogs in Spanish, Chinese and Norwegian. Japanese will be coming soon, and we're planning for more languages beyond that.

Debbie: Real estate on a corporate home page is precious. I see a prominent link to Dell Community (Ideas, Blogs, Forums, Videos) on Dell's home page. Tell us about that.

Lionel: Having a community link on Dell.com is a small part of a bigger long-term strategy to blend community and commerce. For the most part, corporate websites (including Dell.com) are focused largely on e-commerce. Another small step is to incorporate ratings and reviews, which we started last year. We are working on long-term strategies to blend community elements into the commerce side of things. Stay tuned.

Debbie: What has been your most challenging experience so far as Dell Chief Blogger?

Lionel: I would say weathering the negativity storm in the early days of the launch of the blog was probably the toughest. I was prepared for a rough ride because we had been listening for a while before we launched the blog, but that in itself didn't make things easier.

More about BlogPotomac: June 13, 2008 (Falls Church, VA).

Q & A With Dan Beyers of The WashBiz Blog

Hard to believe that BlogPotomac, DC's premiere unconference on social media marketing, is just around the corner (Friday June 13th to be exact).

Washington Post local business editor Dan Beyers took a few minutes to do a quick Q & A about The WashBiz Blog, which he edits, as well as the broader topic of the relationship between old and new media, which he'll be talking about at BlogPotomac.

Q & A with BlogPotomac speaker Dan Beyers

Debbie: What's the role of The WashBiz Blog in the Washington Post's local business coverage?

Dan: The WashBiz Blog aspires to be the Post's main street for news and commentary on local business. We're still very much in our infancy in developing the site, and you'll see enhancements in the weeks and months to come.

For instance, we've recently added weekly online columns by staff writers Tom Heath and Zach Goldfarb, both of which are off to promising starts. I'll be starting a weekly editor's note soon and we have plans for guest bloggers and other new features.

Debbie: How hard was it for you to get the blog started? Was it considered a daring experiment?

Dan: Getting the blog started was a piece of cake. Never in my time at The Post has it been so easy to start something new. Sustaining the blog, developing compelling content that meshes seamlessly with what we print in the newspaper, is another matter.

We've only begun to scratch that itch. And while daring is not an adjective I would use for the blog, we are trying to test a premise here. The Post has successfully launched blogs dealing with national politics, celebrity and technology. Can it do so with a subject like local business? I think so, but it will require we be creative in how we engage readers.

Debbie: The colliding of old and new media is a topic of endless fascination. What's your take on it? 

Dan: At the Post, the issue is hardly old versus new. We have to embrace both. Newspaper readership, though shrinking, is still substantial. Our online business, though growing, is still not as lucrative as the newpaper's. The focus of a lot of my attention these days is navigating the transition, trying to blend both new and old ways of doing things.

Our plans for the Post 200, our annual guide to the region's biggest companies, offer a glimpse of the sorts of things we're trying. In addition to the printed guide that will be distributed with the newspaper, we're building out our 200 company profiles on the Web, adding live news feeds, links to SEC documents, videos when available, and other content.

We're also teaming up with the Greater Washington Board of Trade to host a Post 200 event, featuring Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. as the keynote speaker. The idea is to connect with people in the way they find most comfortable, either through the newspaper, on the Web or in person.

Debbie: How do you foresee social media affecting the Washington Post's coverage of local news in the next year or two?

Dan: Social media is already having an effect. It's a resource for reporters. For instance, our ability to reach people through Facebook was important to our coverage in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings. And we're experimenting with social media as a way to reach out to readers, with Facebook apps, with Twitter, with some of our comment functions.

Debbie: How active are you on social networks like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. Do you find them useful in your role as a Wash Post editor?

Dan: I dabble but so far have not found my killer app. Some story ideas and contacts have flowed through the networks. But it can be very hit or miss. The networks are only as good as the people on them. And the anonymity of people on some networks can be difficult to parse. Are they loyal readers? Spammers? Sometimes it is hard to tell. That said, I do think we ignore such networks at our peril.

Visit BlogPotomac for more information and to register. Dan Beyers will be speaking at the event at 9:35 AM on Friday June 13, 2008 at The State Theater in Falls Church, VA. You can also follow BlogPotomac on Twitter.

It's De Rigueur... You Must Twitter Your New Blog Post

It's the new thing. If you're still not "getting" Twitter, which I wasn't... up until a few weeks ago, wrap your mind around this:

You've lovingly crafted a brilliant blog post. Ping! Your blog alerts Technorati. Ping! Your RSS feed goes out to all who've signed up via a news reader.

Nope. Not enough. The way to get attention for your blog these days is to tweet your new blog post to your "followers" on Twitter. Here's an example from Shel Holtz's Twitter feed:

This is worth a read, BTW. He talks about how using social media tools can turn *into* a strategy.

Useful Links for Twittering

Why short is tweet for the blogging community by Jeff Jarvis for The Guardian (Feb. 25, 2008)

Twitpic

Twitterrific

Twitteroo (URL shortening)

Epiphany: Twitter Puts the "There" There Back Into Social Networking

I've been Twittering for a couple of weeks now after resisting for months. It finally came to me... why Twitter (some call it micro-blogging as you're limited to 140 characters) has taken off and what need it fills.

Twittering puts the "here" back in the "there"

Cf Gertrude Stein's "there is no there there."

It fills a need we have not only for connecting with other like-minded folks, but for locating them - and ourselves - in an actual, earthly place and space.

Reading the Tweets of those you "follow" gives you tiny jolts of temporal/spatial awareness: exactly what are your colleagues or friends doing, and where are they? Now you can find out.

Not every Tweet, of course. Some of the updates are pointers to blog posts or other timely references.

Ultimately, the vague sense of "we're all online" and "in the cloud" together" is disconnecting and can make us feel more lonely. (Studies have shown this.) In contrast, the more tangible "It has finally stopped raining" (Kristen Munson aka Social Media Mom ) or "tea break" (Sun Zhifeng twittering from Shanghai) is comforting. Hey, we're all real people.

Above is an example of a Tweet this morning from newmediajim (aka Jim Long) who updates us all day on his doings as a freelance TV photojournalist. He's often at the White House or on Capitol Hill. 

It's Cherry Blossom week in Washington DC and apparently the downtown streets are jammed with tourists. Thanks for the update, Jim.

Useful Links

How I use Twitter, and you?

9,000 Twitter followers: what does that mean?

Alltop's list of Twitterati

Are "Shared" Blogs and Social Media "Sites" the Wave of the Future?

Just noticed that soon-to-be-authors Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff have a snazzy new look on their shared blog: Groundswell. I'm wondering if "shared" blogs might not be what's coming in 2009 as more of the bloggerati blog less and Twitter more.

The trend is also to aggregate your social media efforts (Twitter, Facebook, blogging, etc.) so they're easier to find in one place -- or on one page. Charlene and Josh are now calling their blog "a broader site.'

My advance review copy of Charlene and Josh's book, Groundswell, arrived today in the mail. It looks terrific and I'll write more about it later.

Register for BlogPotomac, greater Washington DC's social media marketing event - June 13, 2008

Will you be? BlogPotomac, greater Washington DC's premiere social media event, is less than three months away. I'm co-chairing this one-day unconference on the latest practices in social media marketing with Geoff Livingston and will be emceeing with Josh Hallett.

Lionel Menchaca, chief blogger for Dell's Direct2Dell corporate blog, is keynoting. Register now as tickets (only US $75) are going fast. Be sure to check out our cool new site designed by Viget Labs.

More info on the day's schedule and our great lineup of speakers here. They include Dan Beyers of The Washington Post, Maggie Fox, Frank Gruber, Kami Huyse, KD Paine and Jeremy Pepper.

Fairleigh Dickinson Graduate Students Jenna Kohler and Marisa Reece on Social Media

Jenna Kohler shares her thoughts on social media after attending my Shering-Plough Executive Lecture yesterday. Below, fellow graduate student Marisa Reece has a few words too. Both are graduate assistants to Prof. Jennifer Lehr, who organized the 2008 Shering-Plough Executive Lectures.

I was lucky enough to hear Catherine Mathis, Senior VP of Corporate Communcations for The New York Times Company, speak earlier in the morning. She gave a fascinating case study on former NYTimes reporter Jayson Blair.