Posted on August 2, 2010
Which is this week.
Tomorrow, being Tuesday 3rd, I’ll be in the new Yumm cafe in the Custard Factory from 1pm to 5pm. I have a booking at 3pm but otherwise am free.
(By “free” I mean working on things that I can take time out from before you think I’m just browsing the web and playing games or something. I mean, please. I’m a professional here.)
The next surgery will be on Thursday 5th at the MAC from 1-7pm. No bookings yet as I’ve just decided on it.
Details about my surgeries can be found here and to book simply contact me through the usual channels. Sessions cost £20 for half an hour, though they usually go on a bit longer than that.
Posted on July 30, 2010
Today’s xkcd comic contains one of those universal truths.
He’s talking about University websites but it applies to any communication venue where the sales and PR brain has taken over from the human brain.
There’s nothing wrong with sales or PR in their place. It’s just their place isn’t right at the front.
When I’m working with people I ask what they want to achieve from their online activity. The answer is usually “more sales” or “more visitors” or something like that. The problem is people don’t want to help you fullfil a sales objective. They want to solve whatever problem they have at that moment. Your job is to turn that into a sale.
I have a suspicion that in the pre-Internet era you could get away this with making people dig through the hype to get what they want but that doesn’t work anymore. They’ll just go elsewhere.
Put yourself in their shoes. If you wanted the thing you’re offering how would you like to be treated? Would you want a flashy website that shouts about how wonderful the provider of the thing is? Or would you just like to know about the thing?
Give people what they want in a manner that doesn’t annoy them. Simple, no?
Posted on July 27, 2010
I’ve been slack on getting feedback from people about the surgeries. Generally they’re happy with them but I really should do some follow-ups and get some specifics. Return on investment and all that.
So when Jan Bowman told me she’d had actual material benefits following on from our surgery last week I figured I’d better post about it.
Jan draws pictures like this:
She’s also got a fab book called This Is Birmingham out which did really well in the CiB Shop.
One of the many things I talked to Jan about was maintaining a relationship with her customers. We looked at various tools and methodologies to do this but the key thing was to think of them as more than just people who paid her for a drawing once.
Jan’s started playing with these ideas and has made two new commissions in the last week which she directly attributes to our session.
Which is nice.
If you’ve got a specific success story following on from a surgery you had with me do let me know and I’ll mention it on the blog.
Posted on July 26, 2010
On Thursday a number of people I follow on Twitter were at the Arts Marketing Association conference and as expected the #ama10 hashtag was peppered with interesting nuggets amongst the “surely this should be blindingly obvious by now?”
Curiously it was a throwaway comment by Christian Payne reported by Rob Lindsay from BRB that caught my attention and got me on my high horse. [Update: In a typical Twitter-storm way I'm misatributed - Rob's asked me to clarify that it was his glib comment made during Christian's talk and wants to make that clear. Sorry Christian.]
I responded that this “reeks of early adopter self-importance” but that’s unfair as I’m sure it wasn’t the thrust of Christian’s presentation [Update: it wasn't!] and I’m certain I’ve used the line a few times. What worried me was that this kind of approach to Twitter and the like might be seen as a sensible and comprehensive strategy by someone new to the concept of marketing over social networks.
Part of my worry is that marketing in a conversation space is hard and no-one to my knowledge has really figured out how best to do it, so an idea that connects easily with traditional marketing techniques is going to resonate quite strongly. And yes, getting well connected people involved in your project so they amplify your message is a good thing to do. You should be doing this anyway be they Twitterers, bloggers, radio DJs, members of the parish council or politicians in high office. Even a monkey like me that shies away from anything with PR attached to it knows this is PR 101.
The problem I see is that influence online is quite different to influence offline. How it’s different is, of course, complicated but I’ve had a stab at it before – see last year’s Influence is weird and Towards a Theory of Yurtification.
So here’s the thing. I think you shouldn’t rely on the influential Twitter users in your sphere too much because the nature of Twitter means they’re influence isn’t that great really.
- Twitter makes it easy to connect with people. This is great but the importance of those connections is lessened. This is not an indictment on Twitter (I have good friends I only communicate with through Twitter and my connection with them is strong) but merely an observation that when something is easy that doesn’t automatically make it worth anything.
- It’s a two way street. I can ignore you as easily as I can listen to you, and when I listen to you my attention is variable on my terms. In other words the listener controls the influence. This is radically different to, say, the newspaper journalist who could dictate the reception of a message by putting it on the front page, or an advertising agency by buying all the billboards. (cf Tom Ewing’s What Happens When A Celebrity Links You On Twitter?)
- The number of followers someone has on Twitter has very little bearing on how they are perceived in someone’s stream. Their tweets are not bigger or flashier – they look just the same as your friend’s tweets. The difference is in the content and how it resonates with the reader.
- This brings in a law of diminishing returns. The more people you’re addressing the less personal you can be. My favourite illustration of this is the threat videos of gurgling babies with 10 views on YouTube pose to broadcast television networks. Given the choice between a glossy TV show with a famous cast and a badly shot 5 minute video of my newborn nephew I know which I’ll choose to watch over and over.
It’s not that you shouldn’t involve the well-networked seasoned communicators. Having someone like that on your team can help inspire others to get the message out and help you avoid some easy mistakes. Better to think of them as guides who can help you navigate the terrain than couriers who can deliver your message for you.
How you craft that message and how it travels through the network is another thing altogether.
Posted on July 26, 2010
Continuing the summer of ad-hoc surgeries, I’m going to be at the MAC cafe on Tuesday 27th from 12-8pm and Coffee Lounge from 12-3pm, after the Social Media Cafe.
Full details are on the Surgeries page but in essence, for £20 per half hour I will help you figure out what you’re doing on the Internet with an emphasis on social media and low-cost solutions.
These surgeries are ideal for sole traders and artists who need a functioning online presence but don’t know where to start. Rest assured I won’t pile you up with confusing options – I’ll help you sift through and find the right one for your situation whether it’s a blog, a Facebook page or a mailing list. And if you’ve already got a good presence I’ll give you tips and ideas to make it better.
To book a slot phone or email me.
