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tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65477487098652882402014-10-31T06:16:29.553-07:00Social Media HumorA look at digital marketing and how it applies to life, love, and business. Frank email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6547748709865288240.post-26409762039129002552014-10-23T18:39:00.005-07:002014-10-24T12:14:02.727-07:00Can the Business Hug Be Far Behind?

When did hand shakes and pats on the back get replaced by tight, long, two armed, bear hugs?

A phenomenon happened in the past 20 years or so where now full on embraces have become quite customary in the most casual settings and public spaces. World leaders do it at summits. World Series winners do it preceded by a run and jump. Actors do it after each performance. So yes, it's more than okay when men hug. But to me, the platonic embrace seems like it's being overused and more from as a calculated tactic than a genuine display of emotion.

Odder still to me is the opposite sex, platonic hug. Now, when I walk into my local Japanese restaurant or sports bar I am greeted by a long warm embrace by the hostess and/or waitress. Believe me, this divorced middle-aged man is not complaining. And there are no ulterior motives implied by these women, as I may tip well, but I don't tip with Lamborghinis. But in the single evening I can go from meeting the new bartender to receiving a warm hug goodbye from her even if I just dropped by for an iced tea. It's become S.O.P. for those in the service industry.

When I was growing up, if you received a warm embrace from a single woman who was not your relative, there was a good chance that she would become your relative or at the very least your girlfriend. In fact, the "no hug for you" handshake is still the international first date symbol for "Not interested, buddy." So I'm not the only one who still hold hugs in high esteem.

Don't get me wrong. I come from a hugging family. My dad always hugged me growing up, I hug my kid, but aside from visits from grandma who always chooses to smother with love, I pick and choose my hugs, using them more sparingly. It's because hugs really mean something more to me. It's a step above and beyond just a handshake or a peck on the cheek. It's a way of showing that I really care and I'm overcome with emotion.
I'm not sure what the cut-off age is, but for middle aged and older people, hugs, particularly from acquaintances can be genuinely flattering and oddly uncomfortable all at the same time. So if you feel us tense up, that's probably why.

Which brings me to the business hug. Yes, that's right. It's pretty commonplace at sales incentive meetings as you congratulate the winner of the most widgets sold. And it happens at the holiday party - though those of us who have been in business awhile know all too well a lot more can happen at office parties than a random New Year's hug. It's on the rise and I don't think it will be long before it becomes an almost daily occurrence.

I'm sure it's a sign of the times, like casual Fridays, and bring your dog to work day. And making the workplace more comfortable is just good business. All I'm saying is that maybe hugging one out after clearing the paper jam on the copy machine might not really be a good idea nonetheless appropriate. Or maybe I'm overreacting and I just need a good hug?Frank Bocchinohttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6547748709865288240.post-52555912981408642322014-09-29T10:27:00.002-07:002014-09-29T11:24:39.181-07:00SEO vs. SEM: the Real War for Top Placement

Forget net neutrality, there's a bigger war taking place online today. It's the battle between search engine optimization (SEO) versus search engine marketing (SEM) to get to the top of the search engine result pages (SERP). And the most shocking thing about it is most business leaders don't realize that the two practices are working against each other.

Wait a second? Did he just say SEO and SEM compete against each other? Yep. Most companies erroneously use the terms interchangeably which is at the crux of the problem. So let's first start with an explanation of terms.

SEO is a practice of tailoring or "optimizing" the contents of your websites, landing pages, pdfs, videos, and social media posts so that your brand (product, service, company, or client) comes up at the top (or close to it) when someone performs a search. While SEM is the practice of bidding on placement of your brand in the designated marketing areas of a search engine and/or their partner sites for contextual advertising, and paid inclusion.

But let's simplify that further in a way that makes sense to all businesses. SEO = free. SEM = paid. And the overwhelming percentage of a company's SEM costs is due to the fact that they do their SEO poorly, inconsistently, or were late to the game. True, the on-going costs of an SEO service or company are not free, but they are fixed and you are not in a bidding war against all your competition. And some people prefer the paid searches as they are highlighted and/or appear first.

Search marketing is deployed by many sites not just search engines. LinkedIn lets job applicants appear at the top for a fee when applying to positions, for example. Dating sites let you highlight your profile and your face appear at the top of searches for a price. But these non-search engine sites do not let you optimize your profile like you are able to optimize your web content.

Search engines (e.g. Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.) actually are giving you a choice of whether you want to pay or not. And they actually reward those who adhere to their search algorithms standards (white hat SEO practices) with top positions.

The irony is that SEM is winning this war simply because SEO practices are so widely ignored. Listen, no one said Google or its search algorithms were easy to understand. Or keep up with. They change it periodically for two reasons: one to improve customer searching satisfaction, and two, to prevent all the tricks (black hat practices) SEO companies and webmasters devise to cheat the system such as bogus or reciprocated back links, replicated sites, irrelevant bloggers, etc.

As I like to tell people, I've literally been doing Google Adwords before Google was. The early keyword bidding companies have been gobbled up (or Googled up as the case may be) since then, but those were simplier days. Now Google Adwords and the Bing/Yahoo Advertising are the one that matter for most businesses.

But SEM has become significantly more customizable (read complicated). Then there's Ad Tech that watches your browsing habits and serves you ads based upon your history. More and more companies are creating SEM manager positions and less towards SEO. I'm not saying SEM doesn't have it's place. Some of it actually aids in ranking because it drives more viewers to your site. But SEM should be the foot soldier not the General leading your marketing efforts.

What about the browsers? Where do they fall in this SEO/SEM war? Each browser calls them something different (add ons, extensions, extras, plugins etc.) and I guarantee that Adblock is at the top of the most downloaded. People have it in their power to block all those ads automatically. More tweaks let you easily block those bots that track your every move. I've been using these so long that I'm often confused when people complain about the ads on their gmail, facebook, news sites, everywhere because I no longer see them.

Once the general public catches onto the ad blocking plugins, the SEO/SEM war will heat up even more. Such things as pop-under ads, and pay-per-view ads (not to be confused with pay-per-click) will become more prevalent. If you're wondering, I am often paid to do both so think of me as Switzerland when it comes to this battle. But for now, those putting all their funds into SEM and not SEO may regret it in the long run.

Frank Bocchinohttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6547748709865288240.post-22689404141652118752014-09-08T07:35:00.000-07:002014-09-08T12:04:04.751-07:00Filling Open Spaces with Your Marketing Brand

Maybe it's a sign of age, a growing reliance on technology, or just impatience, but when I'm introduced to someone now I forget their name literally the moment they mention it. But then there are things that people say that I wish I could forget but can't. I'm not talking about disturbing, unsettling, or insulting remarks - my mind does a good job of erasing those memories. No, I'm talking about random thoughts that are seemingly insignificant at the time, not good or bad, but somehow stay with me forever.

For instance, every time I wash a cooking pan, I think of an old co-worker named Chuck. When I was a newlywed, Chuck goadingly quipped to my new bride how he'd bet that I was so lazy that I didn't wash the handle when washing the pan. (It turns out he had been admonished by his wife for the same oversight.) "Yes," my then wife replied in a frustrated voice, "and it drives me crazy!"

Not only did Chuck's off-the-cuff remark land me a place on the couch that evening, it lodged in my memory forever. I can think of other instances when acquaintances and friends made random comments and observations that replay in my head like a bad infomercial. Not all of them were sarcastic, or critical. Sometimes they were funny and even sweet. They all had one thing in common. They all occurred when I was in the midst of performing menial tasks that I do everyday that do not require thought nor ones that I associate with any person or brand.

As a marketer, that stickiness is what we shoot for every time. If I was somehow able to do this cognitively and in a positive way, I'd be onto something. The challenge of course is finding these open spaces. And not just tasks, but sights and sounds: the windshield wipers on your car, your laser printer spitting out another page, etc. These open spaces are golden opportunities to associate products and services with targeted customers.

Who or what do you think of when you are washing a pan? I'm willing to bet no one and nothing. Who do your customers think of when they are using the products and services you market? Now we are zoning in the essence of branding. We are always striving to have our company/product top of mind. But unless it's new technology, there are a lot of competitors trying to do the same thing. Digital marketing has allowed us to better pinpoint more of those open spaces while social media provides a way to punctuate those points.

Open spaces should not be confused with the practice of selling benefits over features. I'm not talking about marketing the sizzle over the steak. I'm saying that these open spaces may have nothing at all to do with your product. What do polar bears really have to do with drinking Coca-Cola? So there's no reason why I can't think of your software went hiding my shoelaces, or remember your breakfast cereal when I hear the beep of my car alarm. Rather than shoot for the low hanging fruit of marketing and compete with an army of others, we should be searching out that Achilles' heel. So rather than the pan, look to the handle.

Frank Bocchinohttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6547748709865288240.post-92010541373034407192014-08-19T08:23:00.002-07:002014-08-26T12:07:42.337-07:00Face Palm: Monetizing Facebook and Other Websites Made Easy

Facebook revealed this week that it will be tagging news items from "The Onion" as satire as it has received many complaints from members confused the style of humor. This announcement comes just days after Facebook's decision to begin charging a $9.99 monthly subscription fee for membership beginning in September for its satire-challenged members. OK. The part about the social networking king charging was satire about satire. But Facebook, like many free websites are not joking about looking for innovative ways to monetize. And it's been a tough road to hoe and the road just installed toll booths. But I always know a short cut.

I make a large majority of purchases online, so I don't begrudge any website trying to monetize its efforts. But when you start off as free, it's difficult not to mention risky to start charging for your intangible services. Their remuneration is paid in data. Our information currency. But security issues and privacy acts have been catapulted to the forefront. Now though I commend Facebook on the wise decision of keeping membership free, I actually feel bad for its marketing team as any move it makes is highly criticized and often unfairly attacked. To the online community, what begins free must always remain free. At least that's what they believe.

This is not to say that charging for something that was once free is doomed for failure. I can think of many sites, that offered it services for free initially and then began charging. But these sites most of them web apps and software services from the outset let it's free users know that the free ride was either limited by time or by functionality.

Many e-mail marketing web-based software services handle this quite well. They either limit the number of e-mails you can send for the contacts you can send to, but you know when you sign-up that if you like it you will pay for. Sort of like the free sample station at Trader Joe's.

I'm a heavy Facebook user. I use it to correspond often with close friends and relatives, occasionally with old school chums and business associates, but most of my correspondence are with my Facebook-only Friends. These are people whom I never have and likely never will meet or even chat with over the phone. Losing contact with them to be a great loss but one I would accept begrudgingly if Facebook was to start charging. And most of the people I know on Facebook would follow suit. It comes down to perceive value. For example, many Netflix customers who rarely rent a movie, spend hours on Facebook each day. But if they could only justify paying for one, which one do you think it would be?

Actually, Facebook has started to charge its members in a roundabout way by limiting who sees your posts and status updates. Now for a fee, you can "promote" your post for everyone to see. Nice innovation, poor execution. There are better ways - like monetizing its brand and partner interfaces - to increase its profits. They tried a phone that didn't fare well. I'm not saying it's easy with such a huge infrastructure but it's possible. My solution involves a hybrid between an AOL redux and a plug and play, build-your-own Interface similar to WordPress modules. I'm sure there are many others.

Google was in a similar situation several years back and reinvented advertising with keyword sponsorship and its AdWords. And after an initial struggle Facebook seems to be doing better with it sponsored ads but in a future article I will discuss how that world is about to see it's bubble burst.

Frank Bocchinohttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6547748709865288240.post-65662878594041495432014-08-16T14:58:00.000-07:002014-08-21T22:27:16.884-07:00Pride and Prejudice of LinkedIn Membership

You've probably read a lot about it in the news this week, so let me finally address the event: I am about to hit the 500+ connections milestone on LinkedIn, and frankly the business world is abuzz about it. At least that's what LinkedIn would have me to believe.

The business networking site has done a great job at making a name for itself as an Internet standard, mentioned routinely in the same breath with the likes of Facebook and Twitter.  Now, any article you read usually offers the LinkedIn share button, but being an aggregated news source is just a caveat of the business professional powerhouse that it has become. But LinkedIn has achieved much more than being the online Rolodex replacement that it had set out to be when it was first founded.But it's done so by redefining its own rules.

I don't remember when I joined LinkedIn, but it was early on, and earlier then most anybody I know. Being an early adopter is part of the job description for an Internet marketer. Back in "the good old days," you'd upload your contacts by exporting your email database and uploading it to theirs. The process has become easier but the idea was to have online access to all your contacts, and only your contacts. LinkedIn notified those people by e-mail to confirm the business connection. Adding connections that you didn't know or hadn't worked with was always considered a LinkedIn no-no.

But all that has changed recently. The new LinkedIn not only condones connections with strangers, it strongly suggests to add them to increase your own visibility and network base. It has got around this by creating groups, interests, skills and expertise, in addition to work experience, as legitimate ways to connect. It also allows you to e-mail whomever you want to -- provided of course you upgrade to the "Business or Business Plus" professional edition. *rolls eyes*

I'm not sure how pleased I am with the new growth strategy that LinkedIn is promoting. Whereas Facebook and Twitter despite their popularity is still an option and social media, LinkedIn is virtually required for today's business professional. And the professional profile photo, has to be just that, professional, or you're considered in the business world to be less trustworthy and not to be taken seriously. Haven't been able to locate your old college buddy on Facebook? Want to know what Friday's date who you met on the Internet truly looks like? Check first on LinkedIn. Unable to view their photo? That's because you haven't joined LinkedIn. See where I'm going with all of this?

I don't find any of this to be alarming or dishonest but rather curious how one website has been able to persuade even the most paranoid, privacy-conscious people I know to provide a recent head shot and road map to where they've lived and worked their entire lives. I credit in part the "profile completeness percentage" that is included next to your name. Good students become good employees and we all strive to reach that 100% mark despite the fact that it means full disclosure. I can tell you this much, the site has been a boon for executive recruiters, HR departments, hiring managers, and background checkers for that matter across the world. Unfortunately, it's also allowed some of those offshore telemarketing companies a legitimate way to contact you. I used to let their voice mails linger forever but now they can find me easier than Waldo in front of a green screen.

Where as Facebook exploits our vanity, LinkedIn feeds our pride and that seems to preempt our desire for online privacy. As for the 500+ connection milestone, I actually would have reached it years ago. But the old LinkedIn warned me against doing so. So it this point, I'm likely to accept any connection that comes my way. Whether or not it furthers my career is yet to be seen, but I can honestly tell you that for me and most business professionals in sales, marketing, advertising and any other business that relies on the Internet as heavily, it's become the most important part of my daily routine. I now check the "who's viewed your profile" section on my LinkedIn profile more often than checking my e-mail. So powerful are they that I even feared writing this article. If Instagram suspends my account, you won't know what I had for my dinner. If LinkedIn revokes my perceived privileges, I soon won't have the money to buy it.

Frank Bocchinohttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6547748709865288240.post-35245461398200457032014-08-03T23:40:00.000-07:002014-08-04T07:10:52.272-07:00How to Avoid Choosing the Wrong Social Media Manager - Part 2

As I pointed out in Part One, social media marketing is still figuring itself out, so finding the right person to be your social media manager is no easy task. Simply charging the youngest person in the company to handle such an increasingly vital and visual role just does not make sense. Just consider how today I walked into my local Verizon store to ask some questions for my elderly parents.

"Hi. Do you have phones designed specifically for senior citizens?," I asked the young Verizon employee.

"Is this for you?," she replied.

I paused for a few moments until the Frankenstein veins on the side of my head stopped throbbing, then replied: "What's your cancellation policy?"

What we've all learned very quickly is that social media is akin to preparing blow fish, or the Japanese sushi known as "fugu". Prepared correctly and you'll be treated to one of the most delicious meals you have ever had. Prepared incorrectly, and it could very well kill you. With social media, say the right things and you'll increase awareness, trust, leads, sales, and loyalty. Say the wrong things and you'll get the opposite results.

To prevent these kinds of public relations catastrophes, and compensate for the ever growing knowledge base necessary to perform effectively, more and more organizations are splitting the social media workload into newly created specialized positions like social media strategist, social media content creator, community manager, and the list continues to grow. They are creating singularly-focused cookie-cutter positions with sole focus sometimes on one site: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and so on.

This kind of social media segmentation may work for some multinationals, but I see this trend as a danger for mid-sized and smaller companies that require most of their employees to wear many hats. They are seeking out prospects whose sole purpose and focus has been social media. Some forgo even getting a Director of Marketing in lieu of a social media manager, an e-mail manager, and SEO manager, etc. But social media is just a part of a marketing plan, and understanding how it fits in to the larger scheme is more important than knowing how to get more Facebook fans. Your new social media manager might be great at growing your Twitter following, but if they have little to no experience in branding, those twitter followers might be useless.

Therefore, your social media manager must have in-depth knowledge of social media as well as search engine optimization, search engine marketing, landing page creation, blogging and most of all public relations. It's impact is immediate therefore a social media manager needs to know how it all fits in with the overall marketing strategy. These candidates do exist but they are harder to find and understandably come at a higher salary.

But when push comes to shove, if you have to choose, hire a marketing pro who's learning social media rather then a social media guru who knows little about marketing. So rather then choose a social media manager based solely on their age or their social media experience, find one that knows and understands that social media may be a superstar, but it's also part of a larger team of marketing and advertising efforts.

Frank Bocchinohttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6547748709865288240.post-89344835638198434032014-07-31T08:33:00.000-07:002014-07-31T08:33:17.627-07:00How to Avoid Choosing the Wrong Social Media Manager - Part 1

One of the challenges all organizations face today concerning its social media campaign is not so much how to to do it, but selecting the right manager to run it? Tapping the right person, persons, or company to lead the social media charge is unlike filling spots in other departments. So some of the tried and true processes you've used for years are about to backfire and can do damage quickly.

At this point, whether you run your own business or are the CEO of a multinational, you know a little about social media. Maybe even a lot. And if you're like most leaders, you really don't want to know more about it, but you know it makes good business sense that you do. Your job is to make sure the person in charge knows it inside and out.

The problem is that the medium, its tools and its best practices, changes pretty much daily. Keep in mind that social media employees are not only doing their job, they are schooling themselves on how to do their job. The changes are constant, the standards not set, and its the equivalent of building a raft while on the ocean rather than on the shore. This is not the case anywhere in your organization, but think of the havoc it would cause if it was. Social Media is both a rocket ship and a highly combustible bomb waiting to go off. It's why some really big companies barely touch it.

This molten lava-like foundation makes it a challenge to determine whether or not the candidates know their stuff. A common way most people hire is to see if a prospect can "talk the talk". Do they know the terminology, the software, the language, the code, the three letter acronyms that everyone in the field knows? Financial experts must know Excel, graphic experts must know Photoshop, social media experts must know...ah it doesn't matter, they'll figure it out. And other than Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, there are no mandatory outlets. And even those might not be helping your cause.

So how do you choose or better, avoid choosing the wrong social media manager? The most common mistake I've come across is age. Companies view social media as a tool of the youth, so therefore choose a kid to do it - and I don't mean a young executive. I can't tell you how many "social media managers" are the high school and college age offspring of your C-level staff. First, understand that social media is not the medium of youth but rather a youthful medium. It is another form of advertising, marketing, public relations, and customer relations. Treat is as such. Hire professionals who have experience in these fields. No, it's not rocket science - but it is a science.

In How to Avoid Choosing the Wrong Social Media Manager - Part 2, I'll discuss an even bigger mistake companies make: specialization. It's a trend that's already having negative impact on the bottom line.

Frank Bocchinohttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6547748709865288240.post-71718870323423465612014-07-28T14:01:00.005-07:002014-09-24T12:54:28.836-07:00What I Just Read About Digital Marketing Will Shock You. And No. 3 Will Change Your Life.

Sorry. Did you believe that headline? It's called clickbait. Don't feel bad if you were misled. Unfortunately, we have all fallen prey to these social media bear traps. Several of these fallacious posts bombard us each day on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and the like. So suffice it to say, there won't be any panaceas in here to change your life, no earth shaking news, no online marketing solution that will make you gobs and gobs of money utilizing social media. There won't even be a No. 3.

These kinds of sensationalist posts are the latest trend to hit the Inter-webs and what I've dubbed tabloid social media. The subject is usually about some amazing act of kindness or feat, by a dog, baby, or an elderly or physically impaired person. It's really no different from what the media has done for years. They promise something that will tug at your heart strings, give you belly laughs, or change your life. All high claims that rarely deliver. And fewer ironically, "shoot lower" and claim to simply interest and engage you.

Click on one or all of these links and you will soon discover they over-exaggerate at best, or flat out lie. It's because though these links almost always deliver a viral video, it's purpose is not to inform or entertain, but to sell whatever is on the landing page. Why not just put a banner ad for wrinkle cream, a new car, or that TV show about a redneck mafia housewife beauty pageant on giraffes? Because banner ads are (pretty much) dead. When was the last time you clicked on one?

And while we're at it, the chances of me "liking" or sharing an article I read with my online community? 5-10%. The chances of me "liking" or sharing an article with my online community when you block the article with a pop up requesting me to do so? 0%.

Though that doesn't seem to stop every website from doing it now. But like teenage boys honking at their high school crushes, despite the fact that those "block ups" are annoying and obtrusive, I assume the reason it persists it is probably effective.

But bad online practices. should not be lauded.

So clickbait is the new banner ad until we collectively catch on and stop clicking on them as well. It's just with all the recycled content, we are looking for new things to read about, ones that haven't been repackaged with an astonishing headline or claim.

So though this article did not change your life, it did explain why we are seeing so many of these annoying posts, and how the only way to make them stop is to resist and don't click on them. Trust me. With all the recycled information on the Web, my sardonic reference to a redneck mafia housewife beauty pageant on giraffes TV show can't be that far away.

Frank Bocchinohttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6547748709865288240.post-87656319186214464452014-07-18T13:33:00.000-07:002014-09-15T12:49:57.831-07:00A Remedial Lesson in Social Media Protocol

So what do you do when your "funny" social media post is universally attacked for being in poor taste, insensitive, and flat out not humorous? As one celebrity of a poorly-crafted Tweet found out, don't try to explain it, defend it, and then attack the masses who've pointed out your grievous mistake.

It's just the latest example of social media gone wrong. In fact it's the equivalent of the home owner who paints his house fluorescent orange and green. When his neighbors complain and he refuses to repaint it, he replies: "Fine. I'll just burn it down."

Deleting an egregious post is the first thing to do. It doesn't make the problem go away nor is it meant to pretend it never happened. And though some might contend that it's an admission of fault, it's not. It's an admission of at the very least a post that wasn't completely thought out and one that is causing outrage instead of providing entertainment or information. And that's what social media is meant to do. Remove it out of respect.

Did your audience misinterpret your words? Did they not get the joke? Are they overreacting? The answers are irrelevant. If the negative reactions outweighs the positive ones, then you failed in your primary directive. To entice, engage, or entertain your followers. Just swallow your pride and apologize if not for the remark then for at least how it was not your intent to great a negative reaction.

The other lesson individuals and companies can glean form this is to stay within your frame of reference. Make comments and observations about what you know. If I follow a football player, I'm interested in his opinions about the game, players, the draft, heck even commercials. But not only does he have no sphere of reference regarding the fluctuating dollar in Europe, the important part is that do I not care about his take on it. I watched all the World Cup games this year and I have plenty to say about them and its players; how to best kick a ball into the goal is not one of them.

Unfortunately many people don't have that filter of what is and isn't appropriate. Just ask your Uncle Phil about his comments about the turkey last Thanksgiving. We can respond to anything that moves or touches us regardless of the relevance it has to our lives or business. But if you plan to make it public, make it relevant to you or really don't say it at all.

Frank Bocchinohttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6547748709865288240.post-7834221417798537912014-05-23T14:34:00.000-07:002014-09-17T06:37:37.252-07:00Avoiding Careless Brand Strategy

Yet another nail salon opened up in my neighborhood. I think that makes 20 in a three block radius. Like many men, a "nail salon" for me is a hot shower and a nail clipper that my Dad gave me 20 years ago. In my book, if the nails are trimmed neat and clean, then I've done my job. I don't begrudge anyone -- man or woman -- who patronize these establishments. But for me, color on the tips of my fingers and toes is way down on my priority list. Just ahead of starting a wasp circus.

I walk by the new nail salon sometimes four times a day. And if I see the proprietor in the window I'll smile and nod. Yesterday I introduced myself and welcomed her to the neighborhood so it came as a surprise when she looked at me contritely and did not introduce herself. Instead of shaking my hand, she grabbed my hand without saying a word not to shake it but to examine it. "You need a manicure," she said. "Come inside now my girls need the work." Most people would agree that this tact showed bad manners and bad business, yet this is exactly the way some brands approach social media.

So many brands and services take the shotgun approach in social media, hoping to hit as many people they can in the crossfire. Problem is no one likes to get shot. Like the nail salon owner, many brands are uninterested in getting to know me, my likes and dislikes. And if they do, they discard me when they find I don't hit the demographic.

Social media is a reflection of our daily lives that is repackaged and then delivered in digital format -- or at least it should be. The nail salon owner surmised quickly that I wasn't in the target market. Who knows? Maybe I'm considering a future career as a foot model? Tough to tell with my shoes on. What the nail salon owner could have done was assessed that I was not a likely customer by asking rather than assuming, then show interest and kindness ahead of trying to bully up business with a hard sell. By not doing so, she lost me as a referral to those who would use her business.

Social media done wrong, in turn, can have a similar counterproductive affect. Not engaging potential and current customers may be the best it does. You may alienate them and lose potential referrals. This is what sets good social media brand strategies from bad, and hitting the nail on the head, rather than hitting the nail with a hammer.

Frank Bocchinohttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6547748709865288240.post-38287785672562248262014-02-13T15:20:00.000-08:002014-02-13T17:53:05.353-08:00Living with Your Social Media Regrets

Have you made a post, shared a photo, or commented on one of your social networks that you later regretted?

If you answered, "no," then you're doing it wrong. It means you're not posting enough. We all have regrets in life, and I'm willing to bet it's more what you haven't done than did. If you're in social media, you've got to be in all the way. Not that there's anything wrong with reserving comments. I think there are many people who post far too much -- or more to the point, far too much uninteresting junk. No one's ever gone to a comedy show and complained "He was great, but he made me laugh too much." Like wearing yoga pants, everyone has the right to post, not everyone should.

However, if you answered "yes" to the question, then congratulations are in order. Not for your poor choices, but for your decision to take chances and recognize your mistakes. Most successful people do both.

When I post, I do indeed envision the consequences of my words. If I lose friends or followers on a comment or photo I found humorous or important, well then so be it. But most of the time, the ones I am most hesitant about posting receive the most acclaim.

But these are on my personal accounts. The posts I make on behalf of the companies I represent, however, is a different story. Decorum can be learned, but the dumbest choice companies make is enlisting the wrong people (i.e. non PR professionals) for making social media posts. In short, the best way to avoid dumb posts is to avoid dumb posters. That's the smartest choice a company can make.

So what if your social media pro does make a dumb choice? The best thing to do is fess up ASAP. Don't blame the poster's judgement or apparent lack of sensitivity. Remember, publicly making an employee look bad does to make your organization look good. Period. Apologize when it's appropriate, and not as a panacea to make all the complaints go away.

Finally, understand that your faux pas is bigger in your world than in ours. The heat will soon subside because there are other people and other companies around the corner whose mistakes will be....dumberer. Frank Bocchinohttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6547748709865288240.post-952009264850881692014-01-26T13:16:00.002-08:002014-09-21T11:15:27.173-07:00No ROI from your Social Networks? Change the Channel

If your marketing department hasn't gotten the results you expected from your social networking by now, it probably never will. It's not their fault. It's just the wrong channel.

I'm a digital marketing consultant who spend his days as a social media strategist, write a syndicated column on social media, have authored social media best practices eBooks, and by some standards, am a pioneer in social media. And I consider myself a social media student as you can't be much of an expert on what's been around for such a short time. So it always puzzles me when a client reaches a frustration level with the results, or rather the lack thereof, that they are achieving from their efforts. They'll say: "I've got my Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages up. And I'm paying some kid to write content and post and tweet and blog and...I'm not seeing anything."

Sound familiar? Measuring ROI on social media certainly is possible though since there is no accepted standard (like the 2% return on direct mail for instance) I'm not sure what good it is. More important is ROE and ROTS (return on effort and return on time spent). Is the effort you are putting in increasing website traffic, SEO, brand awareness and inbound leads? Is it improving customer service and reducing support costs?

All social networks are just that: networks like HBO, CNN, or The Golf Channel. All with distinct target markets. The social networks are taking advantage of the fact that you don't recognize that. You may have thousands of Twitter followers but will never make a sale from it. Or conversely you may just have a couple hundred Facebook followers who could become loyal customers and generate hundreds more. Like any product or service, your efforts and subsequently advertising dollars may do gangbusters on a site of which you've never heard. Bad news is those sites are difficult to find with the millions out there; good news is when you do, you'll know it.

Many of these social networks allow you to zone in on your target market with pinpoint accuracy to which I say: "Big deal." If I'm buying space for a burger joint I don't care how many meat eaters I can reach on the Vegetarian Channel. Are the Male 18-34 demographic you're trying to reach buy on Facebook or just use it to chat and buy on Amazon and get influenced on Reddit? You see where I'm going with this.

You may simply be on the wrong network. Every business should have a Facebook page; not every business will get much business out of it. Try adverting there. It may be a success or not.
But more importantly is to understand that just because there are 750 million people it doesn't mean it's going to be a financial boon for you. Face it, Facebook may be causing you to face reality in the face of defeat and causing you to lose face. (Damn, that was a fun sentence to write.) Same goes for Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, and the next great social network.

In conclusion, disregard what the "experts" may be telling you. You may be right. Facebook may be a bust for you even if they let you target exactly who you want to target. Instead maybe find a new, cutting edge networks that are on their way up. Change the channel.

Frank Bocchinohttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6547748709865288240.post-86825908705840879442014-01-02T13:04:00.004-08:002014-01-02T15:13:07.328-08:00Your New Year's Social Media Diet

Like most of you, my resolutions this year involve healthy self-improvements. Starting with food: I will try to eat less of the bad stuff and more of the good stuff. I don't believe in cutting things out cold turkey (even if it is leftover with plenty of stuffing) but rather, cutting down. I seem to work better that way. By the way, that's a photo of my breakfast this morning, pancakes, syrup, biscuits, bacon. Sorry, I forgot to mention, unlike you, my resolution begins tomorrow. It's the one advantage of having a birthday today. (Please remain seated as envy green is not a becoming color on you.) In short, I get to procrastinate my diet one more day. Even as it applies to social media.

What? You don't do resolutions? Don't need a diet? Great! But everyone needs a social media diet for healthier communications. And like me, you get the extra day or four as it were and can start Monday. That's because no one's around. A mid-week start of the New Year is always slow. So spend the coming days planning your social media diet.

Social media came on the market like fat-free cookies and we collectively gorged ourselves jumping in and stuffing as much as we could down our own and others throats. But just like pancakes, too much of anything is not a good thing. Many, in particular businesses, are slow to change. We got our facebook and our twitter and --we're sated. But it's time to add health to your social media campaigns.

First analyze what has worked. If analytic software is not on that diet then get some as there are plenty-- many are free. Then see what you want to add and what can be trimmed. More tweets? Less facebook posts? Vice versa? Perhaps start an Instagram or finally produce a YouTube video worth watching. Commit to blogging once a week. Change it up. See what worked in 2013, and what might in 2014. Cut the "fat" and increase the "good" stuff.

As for the personal resolutions, I'll see you at the gym... tomorrow. As for tonight, I will have my cake and eat it too. And some iced cream.

Frank Bocchinohttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6547748709865288240.post-66600927164209222222013-12-19T13:37:00.001-08:002013-12-21T08:27:36.661-08:00Selling Social Media to the Sales Team

I'm not trying to spit in anybody's facebook, but you can spend all the time, resources, and tweet equity you want on a social media campaign but if your sales team isn't on board, your efforts will be compromised and results will be social mediocre.

There has been a shift created by social media and the sales process greater than the valuation of Bitcoin or any stock. I have found that great salespeople share some common traits -- desire to change is usually not one of them. Marketers love change; salespeople often loathe it and understandably so. Once you analyze the market, find a process, establish a routine, and identify pain points and value adds that works, you stick with them. New opportunities are great, so if it's a new product or flavor of ice cream they can sell it all day. But if it's a change to the menu, they'll balk. Social media is more than a new flavor, and it's more than the cherry on top; it's a whole new course. And that's not to everyone's liking.

So before the social media campaigns devised by your marketing and advertising departments will take off, your salespeople need to "buy" in and that can be a very tough sale. They understand it's a valuable tool, they are not sure of the hows and whys. I just watched a sales video that chastised sales prospects for not returning sales calls and emails. Really? Do sales organizations actually expect to lead sales efforts with outbound, unsolicited telephone calls as the primary lead generator without social media? I'm by no means saying that phone calls are unproductive or unnecessary. Quite the opposite in fact as the human touch is more important than ever in our digital world. But sales needs social media has set the table. It's no longer a special de jour.

Acceptance from your sales team begins with their understanding on how it affects their bottomline. They don't need to know how to Tweet but do need to understand the strategy that your social media team puts into place. They need to appreciate the benefits of thought leadership, the importance of establishing trust through ideas, and the benefit of breaking the cardinal rule by giving something for nothing. Engage then walk away, is easier said then done.

What salespeople can agree upon is that customers buy the salesperson first and the product second. I remember when a great ad sales person I worked with was duped by unscrupulous vendor explained, "Salespeople need to believe in the product to sell it. So when it comes to other good sales people, we're an easy mark." In short, salespeople need to be the social media evangelists as well as participants.

What needs to be done is to update how business looks at sales and social media's role.
Part of the blame can go to upper management that still wants to put social media soley in the marketing bucket. Sales teams often get "exempt" from new tasks as not to distract them from the primary objective of closing sales. Smart companies learned long ago that the "Separation between Church and State" that existed between sales and marketing didn't make for good business. Sales are your eyes and ears to the industry and there are no better people to know what people want and search for. Today, the more social media is integrated into the sales process, rather than lopped on top like a cherry, the greater the revenues will be.

Frank Bocchinohttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6547748709865288240.post-25112406204869563912013-12-12T22:39:00.001-08:002013-12-12T22:39:58.399-08:00Social Media Epitaphs: When Final Words Are Necessary

Have you thought of what you might say to your idol if you bumped into them today? Or to that one crush you wished you had asked to the junior prom? You'd be worried about not having the time to say everything, afraid of leaving some important points out. You might be thinking how to arrange to see them again. But what if there was a person you met today that was one you didn't want to or think you would ever see again? Not a rival, enemy or anyone for who you viewed negatively, but a stranger or a business associate.

There is certainly no guarantee, but I met someone last week that I know I will never see again. We had pleasant conversation, but don't travel within the same circles, live somewhat far apart, and have no reason to connect again. Later I thought, Good or bad, I could have said whatever I wanted to this person with the knowledge that I would never have to explain it, redact it, or amend it. And that was empowering.

We are conditioned as marketers to think this way. Often, we have one chance to "say" something to a consumer or business. Even if we buy several spots, we've often got one impression in a TV or print ad so better make it good.

In social media, the objective is to start a dialogue. We build up to the point where we pitch or in some cases never try to close the deal at all but rather encourage sales and stay top of mind. But I'm not sure that's always the best decision where social media is concerned. If you knew going in that you had only one shot, how much of what you say in your post would change? If you knew this would be the only interaction you had with this contact, what words would you leave them with? It's what I call social media epitaphs.

Holidays, sporting events, big news items, to name a few; I believe there are some posting opportunities that are worthy of a "swing for the fences" moment. Don't try to be outrageous, shocking or insulting, just say something memorable with no eminent second chances. Before you make your next tweet or post, think as each post as if they were your brand's dying words.

As for me, I'm still friends with the gal I was too shy to ask to the prom and I see my idol every time I have dinner at my parents house. But the next person I meet, who I know I'll never see again, will hear exactly what I want to say at that moment. And they will remember it forever.Frank Bocchinohttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6547748709865288240.post-40454741413573179222013-11-13T15:16:00.002-08:002014-09-21T11:19:21.296-07:006 Reasons to Make a Dog Your CEO

The world would be a better place if people were more like dogs. They're loyal, trustworthy, non-judgmental, unaffected by outer beauty and thanklessly provide unconditional love expecting nothing in return. About 20 years ago, a study of chief executive officers (CEOs) at Fortune 500 companies was conducted that stated an overwhelming majority -- near 90% -- had a dog while growing up. They said at the time that among other qualities, owning a dog taught them responsibility.

My dog currently holds the title of Vice President of Home Security. He's well-respected, provided free corporate housing, expenses all his meals, gets vacation days, full medical, and regular bonuses in the payment of rawhide. However I was thinking of promoting him to CEO. Not only a position he's earned after ten years of service, but also one he's well-suited to fill.

It got me to thinking that all companies would be a better place as well with a dog at the helm? Make a dog your CEO? Now don't growl yet, sit and stay for the reasons why:

They're well liked and make new acquaintances easily. The main reason my dog leaves the house -- other than to use the facilities -- is to meet and make new friends. A CEO is the face of the company that needs to be out and about creating new opportunities which result in new business and happier clients.

They achieve their goals--every day. This one is huge. A dog sets out each day with a few things on its to-do list. Eat, sleep, play, get pet, and then repeat. CEOs should set realistic goals and ones the company can achieve.

They interact with you daily, then leave you to your work. I suppose it depends upon the dog, but mine leaves the room when I'm on a call, Probably because I'm talking too loud but he gives me privacy nonetheless. Good CEOs know to let their employees do what they were hired to do with little interference. Today everything is measurable. This should no longer be just the luxury of sales.

They have your back. Dogs are not taught to stand up for you. They do it automatically. CEOs must do the same and not be quick to point fingers for poor results.

They are great judges of character. Dogs sense who and who not to trust. CEOs need to have the same business sense on who to partner with and who not.What products and services to carry, what markets, etc.

They command respect, but never abuse it. Some of the biggest dogs who could do the most damage are often the sweetest. Unless that is, you mean to bring harm. Great CEOs never flaunt the fact that they could replace you and your entire department right now if they so choose. Do your job well and they should reward you.

Consider making your dog the company CEO. Though I think they're turn down the position as sleeping 18 hours a day on the couch is a tough life to give up. So instead, be a CEO that puts people ahead of profits, and watch how the profits grow as fast as a greyhound.

Frank Bocchinohttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6547748709865288240.post-11016370247017615082013-10-28T18:01:00.002-07:002013-10-28T18:08:22.038-07:00Social Media: Switch to the On Position

Last night while watching baseball, it hit me. The idea for my column, not the ball. I'm so spontaneous I just then decided to write about my spontaneity. Like how I recently moved across the country. I purchased the tickets on a Monday, arrived the next day 2,300 miles West. I had been living in the same apartment for seven years. But right before I moved, something wonderful happened. I reached to flick on the bedroom light switch and it was gone. Not from the wall, but from my memory.

My subconscious chose to delete that bit of information from my RAM to make room as it would soon be as obsolete as a floppy disk with Netscape Navigator. And that was the first of my cerebral cleansing with no juicing required. Each day I purged more and more from the mailman's name to -- well see? I already forgot what else I forgot.

Social media marketers strive to flip that light switch on permanently so they are always top of mind. Better, strive to get your posts out right after your readers and followers purge information they deem useless. What are those best times in business to reach our customers, fans and followers? There is software that will track your best times to post. But always use your discretion. I just tweeted at a trade show, but I did it right before the exhibition floor opened. And the again at lunch.

Minor points can have major effects. Or even Major League effects. Like that great Word Series going on now. Rather than who will win, ask who will be the first to shave those ridiculous beards. And why aren't Gillette and Schick the only sponsors?

Flipping the switch on is easier said than done, but not impossible. You can't control customers minds with a flick of the switch, but you can prevent your messages being the ones that switch it off. Ask yourself: "Would I remember this tweet? Is now the best time to post or am I just meeting a schedule? Has anyone offered a different point of view to an over-exposed topic?"
Remember this about posting. Make it:

relevant

timely

engaging

Now if I could only remember where I put my razor...

Frank Bocchinohttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6547748709865288240.post-37694743677698889662013-10-21T21:58:00.004-07:002013-10-21T22:39:42.691-07:00Twitter's Best IPO Strategy? Evolve.

With a Twitter IPO expected in mid-November, Twitter wants to position itself as indispensable to consumers. Like many Internet companies, investors and analysts contend a huge pool is key to the company's ability to attract advertisers and generate a profit. But according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, 36% of 1,067 people who have joined Twitter say they do not use it, while 7% say they have closed their account. You have to expect that drop off though with any new product. For instance, I haven't washed my Shamwow since I ran out of OxiClean after I dropped my George Foreman grill.

Twitter is a bit like a late night infomercial to be honest. It's got the cool factor, fun to use, but really offers more sizzle than steak. I don't tweet much for myself, but I get why people might want a virtual soap box. Say what you feel regardless if it's meant to entertain, notify, or provoke thought. But chances are few will read it. And if you're a regular person, you've got a better chance of your message being read by writing it on a yellow Post-It Note and placing it on a monitor.

The secret to success for businesses on Twitter is no secret. Just give stuff away. Like good ideas, or t-shirts, or Lady Gaga tickets. Or a Lady Gaga CD with 250,000 government cables -- that seemed to attract a following for Wikileaks.

And though it's not my preferred of the social networks, Twitter is powerful, popular, and the little blue bird should not be held up to a public barbeque. No one can't read most of their Tweets but that's the way all communication works. You can print a million newspapers but a million won't get read. You can broadcast the nightly news to a million homes but a million viewers won't watch.

On one hand, Twitter is better in that you can target what news you want; worse in that it's got just a moment to catch your attention. I liken it to the ticker tape in Times Square but one you get to control. So no, Twitter is not indispensable -- but neither is your daily newspaper or homepage.

The whole purpose of targeted communications is targeted advertising. Let the uninterested Twitter followers drop off and the pool contract. Why care if you don't get it? Millions of others do. When it comes to the Twitter IPO, too much is being made of the attrition rate and attention time of consumers, and too little about the application's functionality and customization capabilities. Yes there are apps to install to make the Twitter experience better but you have to know they exist. Apps that make sorting, blocking, highlighting, recommending and archiving easier. I say build all of those into the product.

I believe the novelty of Twitter is over and it's time for it to evolve. Be less like a late night infomercial product and more of the indispensable social media mainstay you long to be. But hurry, operators and investors are standing by now! Frank Bocchinohttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6547748709865288240.post-41262101770359234452013-10-13T07:25:00.001-07:002013-10-13T07:25:09.166-07:00Next Year, Social Media Will Be Gone

"Social media" this! #blahblahblah. Mark it on your calendar. By this time next year, I predict social media will be gone. And not just from my life.

Have you been reading all those stories having to do with social media fatigue? There's been a plethora of personal accounts of people swearing off sharing, demonizing their digital dillydallying, repenting from the sins of all things posted. But anything with this much hype is bound to get backlash. Our society tends to demonize anything that gets too popular.

But this is not one of those bashing articles. I'm here to tell you social media is not an evil religious cult -- though I bet Satan hates those requests for Candy Crush Saga as much as the next guy.

Nor do I believe social media is addictive like nicotine. Like Mark Twain and smoking, I think quitting Facebook is easy, I've done it a thousand times -- I learned the first time I quit Facebook though, that wasn't the right approach.

However, social media, as we now know it, soon will all but be gone from our memories. Gone faster than the image in your mind of Miley Cyrus swinging on a wrecking ball. Hopefully.

It's because "social media" is just a fabricated term to describe digital messaging that's accessible to the public. Newspapers, telephone, radio, television, magazines all are tangible devices. Emails were explained as electronic letters. Texts as digital notes. Social media acts as a place holder on an intangible medium so consumers can understand it, the market could monetize it, and popular culture could make us hate it.

So like floppy disks and 8-track tapes that went away, social media the term will disappear but the practice will remain. It's everywhere and nowhere. In and on everything we use to communicate. In short, it has to disappear because it never really existed. Don't believe me? When was the last time you heard someone call the commercial online sector the World Wide Web? It's just the Internet now.

If anything, social media is a nutritional supplement to the way we communicate. An extra kick to our digital diet. It is blended into all other media, like fluoride in our drinking water, or niacin in our flour. If not next year, then soon after the term will be gone. And years from now our grand kids will read this and ask, "What's social media? ...and what does a wrecking ball have to do with President Cyrus?"

Frank Bocchinohttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6547748709865288240.post-77708236076779739512013-10-06T09:49:00.002-07:002014-09-21T11:22:15.937-07:00I Shared This Article But I Never Read It

It's true. I didn't read this. I didn't even bother to read the title before I shared it. In fact, you've already read more of the article than I ever will.

That's because many Twitter retweets are done digitally through "robots". Or maybe a service found the phrase "social media" and it "Liked" it under my Facebook profile. I wonder if the author named the article what he did to prove a point? He did.

Last week, I was checking statistics to see who had retweeted my last article on wanting social media to be less narcissistic. (The irony of that last statement is not lost on me, but I digress.) The great thing about Facebook, Twitter and other social networks is that nearly everything can be tracked and traced. I was pleased to see marketers, other business professionals, as well as plain ol' regular folks, had liked the article enough to share it with others.

But as I continued perusing the list, I spotted a ton of phony accounts, most of which feature head shots of who looked to be aspiring adult models. These fake profiles are manufactured, then in turn used by services that offer to increase the followers of legitimate Twitter accounts for a price. It's just another scam the Internet has become so adept at creating. In short, these accounts are not owned or managed by the painted faces we see. I presume most of the models are unaware that their image is being used for such purpose or wouldn't know the Twitter bird if it perched on their Facebook. Or care for that matter.

Though less certain, I suspect there were real people who haven't read this article but still decided to share it. We've all done it -- heck I'll reluctantly admit that I've done it myself like others charged with this task by their employer. Ironically, sometimes those who cull the online content to share with readers have just read the headline. Or as this article implies, sometimes not even that much. Blame in part the pressures social media has put upon business fearing silence. The quest to create and/or find relevant, engaging material to promote and sell through social media has simply reached epidemic levels.

So the larger problem is that the world has become sharing happy, posting now without purpose. We've created the panicked poster who has no time to read; the shiftless sharer drumming up a following through black-hat methods, and the shallow opportunist with no better idea on how to create self worth. It's the new junk mail but no one's invented a good spam filter yet. I say let consumers continue as they wish, but smart businesses need to adhere to some basics:

Posting content should not be about forwards, views, statistics, or especially about the fear of remaining silent.

It's called "sharing" for a reason. Post ideas and information you genuinely believe of interest to others.

If there's nothing interesting to share now, wait until there is, or create your own content regardless of how brief.

If we can collectively contain our urge to forward and tweet everything, and share only the information we find truly valuable, we might have the time to actually read and benefit from it. So what are you to do it you actually did read this article before you retweeted or "liked it" and want to share the information and opinions? Include #justkidding in your tweet, and everyone will know you did. Frank Bocchinohttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6547748709865288240.post-21816953482131770102013-10-02T22:05:00.003-07:002013-10-04T09:12:41.665-07:00Zen and the Art of Social Media Sushi

What is Zen and the Art of Social Media Sushi? Patience, grasshopper. Put down your Facebook and Twitter posting software for a moment and I will explain.

Famous, recognizable people can be seen all over Los Angeles. In the neighborhood I live, I recognize one every day. But when I walk into my favorite Japanese restaurant for a quick bite, you would think Elvis had entered the building -- when he was alive, I mean.

Few writers are so recognizable that they fall into celebrity status -- and I am certainly not one of those. Nor are writers often big spenders -- not exactly the highest paying profession in the world. But tonight the chef came out of the kitchen just to shake my hand. The new hostess and server introduced themselves. The manager bowed. And last night I just walked by and the owner waived wildly when he saw me. There seems to be are as many Japanese restaurants in L.A. as there are celebrities, but to my Japanese restaurant, I am royalty. A true celebrity.

Did you notice how I twice called it "my" Japanese restaurant? That's exactly the intent of the establishment. I've forgotten about the myriad of its competitors -- many higher rated. They don't care that I only spend a few dollars when I dine there because that's a few dollars I didn't spend at their competitors. They distract me with kindness. Intrigue me with their reactions. Please me with their product. And I return. Time and again.

It's precisely this pleasant patience that is lacking in many social media campaigns. Results can not be measured like traditional advertising. Zen and the Art of Social Media Sushi places importance and focus on the reader:

Be thankful that they chose to read your post or visit your page. They didn't have to.

Show them you are happy. Greet them with good thoughts.

Introduce them to new things in your organization. Important and trivial.

Distract them with kindness. It will be appreciated and rewarded.

Make them forget your competitors. Please them with a satisfying read.

Frank Bocchinohttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6547748709865288240.post-90399269227086091322013-09-22T09:14:00.003-07:002014-09-15T13:08:44.977-07:00The Problem with Social Media? It's Me, It's Not You

You.

That one word was my first new Facebook status in months. No explanation. No follow up. Just the word, "you."

At first, mostly everyone glazed over it and passed it by. Then a few people followed it up with jokes and snarky comments. Yet, I held back a reply.

Until one of my young, terminally analytical, left-brained friends (you know the type: the ones so gifted mentally that illogical statements or off-beat humor often short-circuit their Beautiful Minds?) just couldn't take it anymore, and had to ask. So I told her.

I have a friend with whom I have grown close. They have recently looked to me for relationship advice. They are going through a particularly tough time and were making some bold moves to help the situation. I wanted them to know that I was there for them I was thinking about them. But then I realized how I really had that sentiment for most of the people I communicate with through social media.

I've written a few eBooks and a blog about social media and helped many grasp the best practices. One of the first things I stress is the importance of remaining personal. Social media as the name implies needs to be friendly and it needs to have something about you -- not just your company or product -- but the actual living human behind that keyboard or smartphone.

But I've noticed a general overall malaise with social media, and with Facebook in general. I think part of the boredom is that we all spend too much time posting about us, about our families, our jobs, our causes, our favorite whatevers. But that's not being social -- it borders on being narcissistic. We all get so caught up in our daily lives that we are even too busy to make contact through Facebook -- which provides impersonal contact at best.

So the post was intentionally vague on the surface. It might be read by a friend who's going through a rough patch, or someone who holds a special place in my heart, or just an old colleague with whom I remember sharing times. Hopefully, everyone interprets it differently and uniquely, and how it is intended in my heart.

So when I made the single word post, there was actually something more behind it. Facebook is so "Me, Me, Me" I wanted to make a post about others. Remind those friends and loved ones that you are thinking of them even if you've been remiss about making contact. Try it. The results might surprise...you.Frank Bocchinohttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6547748709865288240.post-18595228551028813452013-04-11T07:14:00.000-07:002013-10-02T22:42:22.668-07:00Social Media Cyborgs or Faceborgs?

Facebook has made another move into mobile with its Facebook Home app. Use it and the default start page for your Android cell phone provides instant access to photos, comments and chats. Talk about in your face, book. As a rule, the easier to access it is to access, the more people want to use it.

Meanwhile, LinkedIn introduced "mentions" making it more like business Facebook, Google added new Google+ tweaks, and Twitter has released Vine video. No longer clearly defined, a Forbes article speculates on social media's colliding worlds, while its technology article this week questions some social media big wigs for their predictions for Facebook Home's and its potential influence.

The objective seems to be to turn us all into Faceborgs. But in my world, Facebook has peaked and everyone I know uses it less and less. Easier access will not help that. Indeed, the lines between social networks are more than starting to blur. But more notable is how Worlds have already collided and melded between social media and real life to the point that real life is virtual and vice versa. In an interview I did just two years ago, I too predicted the blurring lines. (Granted, that might have had something to with the fact that I still refuse to wear glasses despite being ensconced in middle-aged .)

This week for me certainly supports the case that we are indeed melding with social media, turning us into social media cyborgs. Case in point, I've lived in three homes — none of which are mine by the way — in three States, in three corners of the country just in the past week. Not visited, mind you, but lived in New York, Florida and now California as effortlessly as Lindsay Lohan ends up on the front page news. Thanks to sites like Orbitz, my hotels and flights were booked the night before while on taxi rides to and from. Yelp mobile led me tosome great local restaurants in every town. And AirBnB found me a great temporary place to hang my hat for the next month. All of these travels with Google Navigation leading me in every step. None of this could have been possible just a few years ago. It was an idea that went from unfathomable to unbelievable to unhindered without us being able to appreciate, nonetheless notice the strides.

Google glasses, Apple iWatch, FaceBook phones and home apps, and now Twitter bracelets all make that cyborg reference more real. Yet regardless of how much social media melds with our lives there, it will always be trumped by face time (not the Apple app but the human kind).

You see, during this social media cyborg week of mine, I got to meet a Facebook-only friend — a fellow writer and humorist that I befriended years ago. But rather than trading quips, updates, and posts on Facebook, I got to see the twinkle in her eyes when she filled me in about her new boyfriend; and she saw me well up with pride as I updated her on my daughter. Spending an hour strolling tree-line streets, (not social networks) with her and her dog (not her laptop), we found our friendship more connected than five years of social media interaction had provided. Score one for humanity.

So as these social networks do collide, condense, and finally become so much a part of who we are that it becomes like the air we breathe, it will simply enhance not replace us socially.

Article first published as Social Media: Are We Cyborgs Now? on Technorati. Frank Bocchinohttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6547748709865288240.post-9935291456373333842013-04-05T06:18:00.001-07:002013-10-02T22:43:04.327-07:00And so it begins. Again.

I've been to Southern California many times on business and vacation. This flight, however, differs, as today's trip is to move there. I've boarded the noon flight to Los Angeles and it appears it will land right on time – give or take 30 years.

With two suitcases stuffed with clothes in cargo, and my trusty laptop on my back I am making the 2,200 miles trip cross country to start a new life. Not for a new love or new job, nor was my current job transferring me but solely because I felt it was time to make "the" move.  As a gold member of the procrastination club, the airline ticket, hotel reservation, and car rental were made yesterday am on the plane to the City of Angeles. I have no idea where I will live, and oddly it seems like an after thought.

Not more than two months ago I decided to give almost everything I owned away, uproot from friends and move for a variety of reasons I will go into in future columns. Saying that planets aligned may be a bit much, but timing had everything to do with my decision. It wasn't a matter of running away or running from, but rather a longing to pursue a lifelong dream while still of sound mind and body.  (Believe me, at this age my body makes lots of sounds.)

It's not the first time I've made such a drastic change, but the last time was 16 years ago when I was the father of a toddler and a husband.  It was to give my family a better way of life. Now it's more about living a better life that will hopefully inspire others to do the same.

Now I suppose there must be an ex or two smirking with delight at my departure, but the overwhelming majority of those in my life were sad to lose their daily interaction with me. It is the reactions of friends, co-workers, and family to my seemingly unnecessary, even senseless move that has surprised me. When I informed them that I was giving away virtually everything I owned save a few boxes of trinkets and clothes and moving from my relatively cushy existence to a new one of uncertainty in my early 50s, not one thought it crazy.  Not a one expressed concern or voiced that my radical decision was a misguided one.  The reactions varied from being happy for me to being down right envious.

I believe this is all part of a paradigm shift in the collective consciousness. Certainly in this post-911 world we have promoted happiness over all else, as such a decision to uproot 30 or even 20 years ago would have met with the negative skepticism I expected.  Today, chasing a dream at any age now seems less quixotic and more hypnotic.  And my decision to do so, never seemed more enthralling.  A "relatively cushy existence" as I called it before is no longer the overwhelming goal as it is the antithesis of why we are here.

Frank Bocchinohttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-6547748709865288240.post-49533535276645805942013-03-21T10:54:00.002-07:002013-10-17T21:00:45.686-07:00Social Media: Be Consistent and Inconsistent

Unlike the Ten Commandments, social media postings should not be carved in stone. Speaking of tablets, (the stone ones, not the "electronic babysitter" ones that retail for $399) we social media marketers need to think of ourselves as bricklayers when posting on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the like using randomness as our guide. You see, good bricklayers naturally "mix it up" to avoid unwanted patterns. And they best work when we do it in house.

Case in point. I never eat the same breakfast two days in a row, or take the same route to work, have regular scheduled meetings, or exercise times at the gym on the same day at the same time. Whatever the opposite of a creature of habit is, is who I am. Granted, this "charming" trait has driven any and all the highly-structured, organized women in my personal life out the door faster than common sense and logic runs from Florida politics. Yet, being consistently inconsistent serves me well in the social media field.

Adhering to a routine is crucial in other business functions. Take sales for instance. Good salespeople follow a schedule, a pattern, often a script, and similar follow up will usually produce results. Marketing people however is very different. We're creative (read: sneaky). We need to catch people by surprise, shock you perhaps, but at the very least catch your eye. Yes, we adhere to advertising schedules, but know it's the ad you didn't expect to see that produces the most leads.

Breaking routine is more crucial in social media than any other communication methods. I know one of the first rules so-called social media experts including Yours Truly like to drill into your head is the importance of staying on a strict schedule. Though this rule is valid, it's designed for the lazy and uninitiated. It's more Pavlovian than anything else. In actuality, I never Tweet, or post at the same time. Sometimes I'll write the content myself, while other times it's a retweet. Two stories today, maybe three tomorrow with a photo.You never know what I'll throw your way, which is exactly the point.

So I can't urge you any stronger than to vary your topics, your times, and your social networks in addition to your vanilla content. You want to consistently post news about you, your company, or your group. But you also want to throw in curve balls — not cannon balls mind you that can explode bad publicity in face — but changes of pace. Maybe something personal, a funny video or comic, an offbeat but applicable news story perhaps this one for instance (<--shameless plug.)

And always vary your timing. A 3:00 am Tweet won't do many much good, but how about a Sunday morning one? There has been so much written on social posting optimal times. But if your audience knows when you post, they also know when to avoid it and may miss out on a special they truly care about. So in addition to your regular schedule, be it Facebook, Pinterest, or LinkedIn, experiment with timing and content.

Frank Bocchinohttps://email@example.com


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The 2013 NFL Draft is approaching. For NFL teams and prospective NFL players, these final weeks leading to the draft present an opportunity for each side to get a feel for one another. As the Chicago Bears enter the 2013 NFL Draft, the team can be flexible with their first round selection. The Bears own the 20th selection in the first round and the team has to yet to show their hand as to where they are leaning towards.
Entering the off-season, the Bears' top needs were improving the offensive line, adding depth to the linebacker position, and finding a tight end that can be an offensive threat. The Bears have appeared to fill, or at least begin to fill, all three of those areas through free agency. On the first day of free agency, the team signed offensive lineman Jermon Bushrod and tight end Martellus Bennett. In recent weeks, the Bears have signed free agent linebackers D.J. Williams and James Anderson.
There has been speculation as to what the Bears will do with their first round selection, the idea that the Bears may trade their first round selection has also been entertained by the team's front office. However, there is one clear option for the Bears and their first round selection. That option would be to draft the best available linebacker. Despite the additions of Williams and Anderson, the Bears still have a clear need at the linebacker position. Neither Williams nor Anderson are a long-term solution for the Bears. Both linebackers were signed to one year deals and the Bears will eventually need find a young linebacker or two that can be the permanent replacement to Brian Urlacher at the middle linebacker position.
That linebacker could be former Kansas State linebacker Arthur Brown. Brown was the Big 12's defensive player of the year in 2012. Brown, who is projected as a late first round or early second round draft pick, will spend Monday and Tuesday visiting with the Chicago Bears. Brown recorded 100 tackles for the Wildcats in 2012. Brown did not participate in drills at the NFL Draft combine but ran a reported 4.56-4.66 4o-yard dash and cleared 21 reps on the bench-press drill.
Brown, who may slide to the second round of the NFL Draft, may still be available to the Bears if the team opts to trade their first round selection.


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Puget Woodwind Studio offers private music lessons for flute/ piccolo,
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kcmc says:
Hi Dropdead259 and welcome to the site
I think your bike is a Yamaha? you don't say what it is,what is 18?what year is it? what milage is it?when was it last serviced?when was the last oil change?and what oil grade of oil was used?
By what you have described so far it sounds like the kick start one way gear and or its mechanism,and possibly the idler gear have seized ?.This could potentially cause damage to the clutch kick start drive gear on the clutch basket?not being able to see the parts to assess them would be difficult to tell the extent of the damage.These problems usually occur due to lack of oil or lack of regular oil changes.Can't be sure?but you may get away with a new complete kick start mechanism,but could also need a clutch basket if the kick start gear isn't a replaceable item,also there could be damage to the clutch case where the kick start return stop sits?.When was it last serviced?(these small engines need regular oil changes to prevent early high wear and catastrophic failures usually seize the cam into the head due to lack of oil or old oil) Good Luck
Just Googled Kinroad XT 125 18 to find its a cheap Chinese bike,should probably be better off calling it a Fuckinroad.This Chinese bike are just very poor replicas of good reliable Japanese bike engines which need frequent servicing to keep them reliable,so there ain't much chance with a Chinese one.But that's only my opinion,should think it would need the same repair though.Good Luck
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If you're wondering where your favorite high school athletes are going to college, or how who decided to attend your favorite college, we'll try to keep you updated.
Listed below are players who have signed with colleges by school, with links to the official releases.
EWU: The Eagles signed three players, including 6-foot-10 post Nathan Lozeau from Marysville, Wash.
Gonzaga: Four players have or will sign, including 6-10 Austin Daye from Irvine, Calif., and Steven Gray from Bainbridge, Wash. UPDATE … Here is the list of GU signees.
Washington: The Huskies signed two players, none from the state.
UPDATE … WSU: The Cougars announced one signee, Abe Lodwick from Oregon.
EWU: Two players have signed, including Kyla Evans, a 5-11 guard from Brewster, Wash.
UPDATE … GU: The Zags signed two players from Washington, 5-11 forward Claire Rapp from Prosser and Courtney Vandersloot, a 5-8 point guard from Kentwood. Vandersloot, who I saw a lot last spring and summer, is special.
UPDATE … IDAHO: The Vandals signed two players from outside the area.
UPDATE No. 2 … WASHINGTON: The Huskies signed six players, including Lewis and Clark's Katelan Redmon.
UPDATE … WSU: The Cougars have signed Katie Calderwood, a 6-foot guard from Colorado.
UPDATE No. 2 … TENNESSEE: Angie Bjorklund joins the best recruiting class in the nation.
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Most people today gradually accumulate a number of items over the years. These can include decorations, toys, glassware, silverware, kitchen utensils, electronic equipment, clothes; and the list goes on and on. This results in needing extra space for storing all that stuff. However, a lot of times, many families end up throwing usable things away due to a lack of storage space. This doesn't have to be the case though, because no matter how small your house is, the right organization tips can make for a lot more room.
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Red Sox DH David Ortiz celebrates with teammates after hitting a 12th inning, game-winning home run against the Yankees in Game 4 of the 2004 American League Championship Series. The home run sparked the Red Sox, who went onto win the next three games and pull of the greatest playoff comeback in baseball history. Sports Illustrated is teaming up with HBO on a new series called Sport in America. Click the link below to submit your memory of the best comeback in sports history. (REUTERS/Shaun Best)
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BMW Alpina B5 BiTurbo Touring – Click above for high-res image gallerySure, the BMW Alpina B7 is nice, but if we had the choice, we'd much rather have the new B5 BiTurbo Touring. After all, what's not to love about an Alpina-tuned station wagon that puts down 507 horsepower and 516 ...
Alpina B5 BiTurbo Touring – Click above for high-res image gallerySet to debut at next week's Geneva Motor Show, the fine folks at Alpina have given the B5 BiTurbo treatment to the new 5 Series Touring. Powered by the same twin-turbo 4.4-liter V8 as the sedan, the B5 Touring produces ...