I saw gary speak at the GBTC Tech Night. He’s certainly a colorful character, but he also was, I thought, very articulate and had thought a lot about social media and where it is going. I think he’s right on with personal branding – reminiscent of what @armano was saying about Brand Me 1.0.

You should have a look at his book: Crush It (http://ping.fm/SCs1a). It is an easy read and really a mix of three things:
- autobiographical
- looking forward to new media and what you need to do in order to build a brand for yourself
- inspirational in that he recommends you should just be yourself and that the web allows you to connect to those who have similar interests to you. By doing the things you love you’ll be the most authentic and successful.

It still rings true that his first focus: Wine selling online – and the fear associated with its high-minded personas – was a great one to be the counter culture with. I’m not sure that other passions he discusses might be equally successful.

However, it is refreshing to hear a voice outside of R/GA or Organic (or MadMen) thinking about these topics.

I’m curious to know where his fledgling consultancy goes from here.

What do you think? Is he going to be able to buy the Giants by the time he’s 40? Let me know: @johnwhalen

“We just need a quick website refresh”

If this sounds familiar, then take a look at my slideset below.  I think my discussion of:

1. Strategy
2. Content
3. Analytics
4. Visual
5. SEO
6. Social Media

…will be welcome.  Please try to take your company/client back from the bring and get them to be more systematic about the “quick refresh”.  It will be worth it in ROI!

All comments welcomed.

I think they’re right.  This is a fundamental change:

Obsessed with Facebook? You’re not alone. The hours you spend logging on to update your status, post photos, and make comments on friends’ walls is not simply a “phase” you’re going through which will end sometime soon. It’s a ongoing trend affecting everyone these days and it has serious implications for the online advertising industry.

According to new figures from Nielsen, the amount of time spent surfing social networking and blogging sites had tripled since last year, suggesting “a wholesale change in the way the Internet is used,” says Jon Gibs, VP of media and agency insights at the company’s online division.

ReadWriteWeb

I think the most interesting question to think about for consultancies like e.magination, Sapient, etc., is what are we creating?  Do web “sites” really matter any more.  I know what David Armano thinks (Kill your website).  What do you think?

I just finished presenting a webinar on Social for the enterprise.  There are some clear takeaways from this research:

• There is great potential for using social media effectively to drive traffic to your site
• Lead generation, thought leadership seem to be the two ideal goals for forays into social media
• Knowing who your audience is and their goals are key to successful targeting of types of social networks you target
• It takes a new mindset to have a client realize they have a lot to communicate to your audience of value
• There are a lot of hard questions (e.g., dealing with who makes content, what to do with negative feedback) that are important and need to be answered

Here’s a summary of what’s covered in the presentation:

• What is the business benefit for me?
• How do I get started?  What tools should I use?
• What could go wrong if I just “get it out there” without a strategy?
• How much effort is this going to take?
• How do I manage it?
• How do I know if I’m successful?

Have a look for yourself at the presentation.  Let me know what you think.

http://www.slideshare.net/emagination/presentations

So you thought that it was expensive to run your site and events like a pro?  Not so much anymore.  Here are some cool sites to get you started:

Event Bright – allow people sign up for your events
http://www.eventbrite.com/

DimDim – conduct free webex-like sessions over the web with up to 20 participants
http://www.dimdim.com
See also: http://www.livelook.com

Talkshoe – allows you to do conference calls and quickly post as podcast
http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/main.jsp?pushNav=1&cmd=home

Feedburner – make sure your blog is listed and easy to subscribe to
http://feedburner.com

Ning – make a custom/private social network
http://www.ning.com

Videos
http://www.youtube.com
http://www.vimeo.com

Web-based Calling

http://www.skype.com

http://www.tokbox.com

Enjoy,
–John.

Who has the best Superbowl commercial – website tie in?

How the Obama team used social networking http://bit.ly/lKmR (pdf)