Posted by Stephanie Valentine on Sep 17, 2009 in
Small Business Marketing 
I love reading Chris Brogan’s stuff. Here’s this social media guru who is humble, funny, and really knows his stuff … and even though I know he is brilliant he frequently manages to catch me by surprise with a post from out of left field. I read this “Rules of the Pool” post recently and I was blown away.
Read Chris’ post here.
I have always felt that the people who call themselves “experts” in online marketing are the ones I should stay far, far away from. I’ve never felt that their advice was right for small business. For big business with a big budget? Probably. But for us little guys swimming around in the big scary online pond, a lot of their advice is good but totally out of reach. Asking a small business to do online marketing at the rate the experts advise is, frankly, impossible, both in terms of time and money.
In fact, for a long time now I’ve felt that figuring out online marketing and social media for small business is kind of like a blind date: there are a lot of tentative steps, some experimental groping, and some startling surprises. OK, actually, it’s all a big grope-fest. There are some people who do it well (like John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing) and some people who don’t do it so well (who will remain unnamed).
Then there are the name-callers who tell us that we can’t be “authentic” if we use automated software to follow people who follow us on Twitter. My thought on this? People who have enough time to manually pick through and follow people on Twitter are NOT running a real small business. They’re just … well, I don’t know what they’re doing but it’s not running a full time small business.
So back to Chris’ post. His post basically says that the experts on online marketing can’t agree on the “rules.” In other words, there’s a lot of debate out there about the right way to do things, how to do things, what to do, what is professional and what’s not. No one agrees. As a result, Chris points out that there should be no name-calling at all … if the experts can’t even establish a baseline for what constitutes “good” and “bad” online marketing, then calling some marketing “bad” might very well be the pot calling the kettle black.
I love Chris’ work for its authenticity, its boldness, and its personalization. If you write him, chances are that he’ll write you back. He even tells you how best to communicate with him. Having said all of those kudos, I long ago realized I am no Chris Brogan. I have neither the time nor the talent to be the social marketing whiz that he is.
Reading his post on “Rules of the Pool” allowed me to heave a huge sigh of relief that I don’t have to be just like him to succeed. I can find my own way to promote my small business online. And since there are no rules to this pool, a little groping, experimenting, and falling down are just fine by me.
What about you?
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Photo credit: FreePhotosBank
Tags: Chris Brogan, online marketing expert, social media
Posted by Stephanie Valentine on Jun 5, 2009 in
Small Business Marketing 
Why Social Media Manager Isn’t a Real Job
I was relieved to read a recent blog post from Chris Brogan, Mr. Social Media himself and one of my heroes. In his post, Getting Back to Your Desk, Chris talks about how social media is starting to move away from the “gee whiz” factor and starting become a more stable part of the marketing channel. In other words, it’s just another channel through which businesses can reach out to their people, like direct mail and email.
One salient point Chris makes is that social media is a tool, like your fax or email. He says being a social media manager is like being the email manager or fax manager - you are naming yourself after a tool. Who wants to be just a tool?
It’s a great rant, worth reading, and probably a relief to all those small business owners running around thinking, “Gosh, I really need to get on social media, but I don’t have time. Oh well, I’ll get to it next week!”
Read Chris’ post here.
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Photo credit: Financial Aid Podcast
Tags: Chris Brogan, social media
Some Small Biz Things to Think About
Getting tired of the usual crud that goes on in your office? Or the productivity that hasn’t been happening in your office lately? A lot of small business owners are just plain bummed because business is bad.
Well, maybe it’s time to shake up your thinking about your small business. Here are some small business to think about. These links point to some interesting blog posts on why social media king Chris Brogan uses coffee shops for offices, on why your small business brand can’t be like Batman, and why you can follow only one or two “teachers” at a time (or go crazy). Enjoy!
Chris Brogan Uses Coffee Shops for Offices
This blog post gives you a great reason to get out of the office. Chris says he rarely goes to his office south of Boston. He likes the easy accessibility of ideas in bookstores. If you need an idea, just stand up and grab a book. Flip through it, get inspired, and then sit back down with your coffee, laptop, iPhone, whatever, and get productive, creative, inspired … anything but bummed but where you business is now.
Check out Chris’ post here.
Why Your Small Business Brand Can’t Be Like Batmat
Rohit Bhargava makes a great point on his Influential Marketing Blog. He says that small businesses can’t brand themselves like Batman, which means being everywhere all the time. Batman has a tool belt with all kinds of tools. If Batman were a small business he would be on every social media platform all the time, spreading the brand message on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Ning, Digg, and more. Small businesses can’t afford to be Batman, according to Rohit, and I tend to agree with him. He points out that small businesses successful with social media have chosen a primary media in which to excel. He points to Comcast and Twitter as a prime example.
Check out Rohit’s post here.
Follow Few Teachers
As Sonia Simone says on her recent Remarkable Communication post, advice on “what to do” for you small business can end up being as numerous as grains of sand in a sandstorm. It’ll drive you crazy. Therefore, don’t try to follow every guru out there who tells you “Obey Me or Fail”! Instead, Sonia gives some tips on how choose the right small business guru for you and your business, and also how to follow productive cycles of learning.
Check out Sonia’s post here.
Photo credit: Renee thinks
Tags: Chris Brogan, small business inspiration, small business management
