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Posterous Blogs in Minneapolis + St Paul

Feb 5, 2010 at 10:56am
With more and more local tweeps wising up to Posterous, it would be nice if we had a place to find each other.

That was the inspiration for this list. It covers a broad swath of media, marketing, pr, social, and tech types. If I missed you, leave me a comment or send a tweet and I'll add you. I'll also be turning this into a Twitter list.

Aaron Weich: Aaron Weiche

Andy Giefer: Andy Giefer

David Brauer: dbrauer's posterous

Don Ball: CoCo

Doug Hamlin: Doug Hamlin's Brain

Jason Barnett: Jason Barnett

Jon Gordon: Jon Gordon

Julio Ojeda-Zapata: Bombi(llo) 

Katie Schutrop: Katie's Posterous

Louise Dengerud: Louise's Posterous

Peter Fleck: Peter’s posterous

Steve Borsch: SteveNet

Tim Brunelle: Tim’s posterous
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tags:
blogging, minneapolis, Minnesota, posterous, social_media, st paul,
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3 occasions when it's ok to be a social media tool

Feb 3, 2010 at 8:42am
Tool by brandi666.

Greg Verdino recently wrote a smart, meaty post called The social media deadzone: why only tools focus on tools. His point is that we need to put strategy before social tools (some of which may not even exist in 12 months) to achieve objectives. While I mostly agree with Greg, there are situations when it's advantageous to say, "ready, fire, aim." Sometimes in social media, being tool-focused can work to your advantage.
1. When you're a total social media newbie: this is the best time to go ahead and be a tool because it gets you excited about social media and motivated to develop a strategy. Sure, you're bound make some mistakes. But people are more forgiving of rookie errors and at least you'll get to know the lay of the land. And if you're a local business, it's possible you're not even popping up in local listings and reviews on Google, Bing, Yahoo or Yelp, so it's worth your time to get the ball rolling with those even if the strategy is not yet in place. You'll also want to reserve your preferred username across several popular social tools before someone else does.
2. When you have to experience it to get it: some social tools you have to dive into before you really understand their potential. In fact, a tool such as Twitter could actually alter your PR, customer service or sales strategy when you see how powerful it is. Once you do get it and understand the rules of engagement, it's much easier to be strategic about it.
3. When you're a victim of paralysis by analysis: the constant stream of voices (mine included) offering social media insights and advice can get a little overwhelming. Too much analysis can lead to paralysis. And when you overthink this whole social media thing, you could start to question your strategy or take yourself too seriously. That's when it's time to turn off your analytic mind and just use the tools in front of you. Get involved, try new stuff and have some fun with it instead. Ironically, doing so is likely to feed right into your strategy.
Do you agree? Can you think of other times where it pays to be tool-focused in social media?

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tags:
local business, social_media,
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The iPad could be the perfect travel companion, except...

Jan 28, 2010 at 11:41am

Skype Logo

I like the concept of the of the iPad for travel -- particularly international travel. Light, compact, and almost every feature you'd need on the go. But it's missing something very important for the savvy, long-term traveler. 

During my year in South America, I lugged around a large, heavy Dell Inpiron laptop. As much as I hated the size and weight burden, it served my purposes for movies, photos, music, web, and email. Perhaps most importantly, I often used this beast of a laptop to access Skype.

I can't tell you how useful Skype was for keeping in touch with friends and family. Or when my wallet was stolen and I had to cancel credit cards and get money wired to me. With Skype I could take care of the problem at a minimal cost, and do so privately rather than in an internet cafe or public phone.

The iPad looks like a sexy travel toy, but the lack of a built-in webcam and microphone takes it out of the running as a serious travel computer. I'd like to see someone build a rugged, compact and full-featured device aimed at that niche.

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tags:
argentina, technology, Travel,
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5 Underrated Benefits of Social Media Marketing

Jan 28, 2010 at 12:47am


Photo Credit

The business benefits of social media are well established, but there's also a large set of of peripheral benefits that don't get much attention. I'm thinking of those many overlooked things that you need to do well in social media. For example, SM:

1. Asks you to do something remarkable: Mediocrity doesn't go very far in social media. You need to offer something remarkable that people love. That could be design or service or charitable giving or a sense of humor. But it has to be worth sharing.

2. Makes you a WIIFM (what's in it for me) superstar: Social media provides a constant reminder of who your customer is and that your efforts must pass their WIIFM test (i.e. why should they care about you?). That close customer contact can make you more comfortable walking around in their shoes, helping you apply a customer-centric approach to all your business practices.

3. Holds you accountable: Did someone have a bad experience with your business? Well, social media means no more sweeping it under the rug. There's a good chance that customer will call you out on social networks or review sites. And, believe it or not, that's a good thing. That accountability is your added motivation to apologize, fix the problem, do better next time, and be a better business in the long term. Not to mention, it's the right thing to do.

SM also puts a premium on honesty. Audiences see through unsubstantiated claims and anything that smells inauthentic or automated. Your best bet is to be real.

4. Requires you to master time management: Social media can eat large chunks of time in your already full day if you're not careful. Scheduling in SM forces you to prioritize, be disciplined and make better use of your time. 

5. Makes you a better writer: Formal business writing has its place, but it's not social media. Your audience wants personality, and you have plenty of opportunities to develop your own engaging conversational voice through SM. Mastering that kind of writing will pay off, and not just online. Plus, Twitter will give you a good handle on pithiness, which comes in very handy.

Got more to add to this list? I'd love to hear them.

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tags:
business, social_media,
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Thinking Small to Achieve Big

Jan 21, 2010 at 6:38pm

I was strictly a recreational runner, never ran track, and maxed out around 5 miles on a good day. While I enjoyed getting out, I remember saying on more than one occasion that I'd never run a marathon. The idea of churning my legs for 26.2 miles seemed ridiculously hard and out-of-reach.

Now several years later, I'm starting to think about which marathon I'll run in 2010. This will be my 7th overall. I've ran about 30 races of varying distance over that time. And though I'm not particularly speedy, I do love the sport.

I often hear the same reaction that I used to have to marathon running. "You'll never see me out there." "That doesn't sound fun to me." "I could never do that." Or my personal favorite, "You're crazy."

My usual response is, "I never thought I'd be a marathon runner either. Try it, you might surprise yourself."

Why couldn't I or many others like me imagine ourselves running a marathon? It's because of that daunting number, 26.2. It's hard to wrap your head around being on your feet that long. It's still sometimes difficult for me to fathom covering that distance.

The advantage the veteran marathon runner holds is mindset. When I'm out there on race day, I'm not thinking about how hard it is to run 26.2 miles. That's too big to take on. Instead, I'm thinking small: Am I currently running at my goal pace for this mile? Am I nourished and hydrated? How is my body holding up? Yes, that big number is in the back of my mind, but my focus is on the things within my control.

By dividing the race into minutes and miles, finishing a marathon becomes a manageable task. By doing the little things right along the way, the big thing takes care of itself. It also helps you keep your sanity over course of the race.

When we're feeling overwhelmed by a big goal, sometimes it helps to think small.

 

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tags:
life, productivity, running,
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The Future of Work is Both Self-Directed and Social

Jan 14, 2010 at 9:05am

On the platform, reading by moriza.
Photo Credit

You can feel it coming. A time when more and more of us are working independently or co-working, or are with smaller organizations, or socially-designed businesses. A time when collaboration occurs between individual practitioners as much as it does within company walls. It's not here yet, but it's around the corner.

Why? Because technology is toppling the barriers to entry. Because many of the resources of the large corporation are now available to the individual. Because small means nimble. Because the social web will allow us to collaborate beyond existing notions of an organization.

We are moving towards a knowledge economy where success is less dependent on physical resources. Success in the future will depend more on whether or not you can be both self-directed and collaborative within personal and social networks.

Of course, large corporations aren't about to go away, but the self-directed/social future affects them as well. The movement towards performance-based systems such as ROWE (results only work environment) plus leaner staffing and contract work mean that you have to be self-directed and socially savvy to do your job and advance your career.

Self-directed/social-oriented work is a positive thing. It rewards traits such as:
  • Passion: do great work and share it with others because it's a labor of love, not because you are told to.
  • Discipline: focus and produce even without direct pressure from colleagues.
  • Knowledge: acquire new skills and information without being told to do so.
  • Network: harness the power of personal and social networks to your professional advantage.
  • Organization: independently manage projects and your work/life balance.

Passion is the most important of these. When your work is self-directed, the social pressure to produce falls away. You soon find out whether you really are passionate about the work you're doing because it'll be reflected in the results you produce. It's a great test of whether you really enjoy what you do. Hopefully, it means more of us are doing work we love.
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tags:
economy, employment, social_media, technology,
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The Role of Social Media in Job Satisfaction

Jan 12, 2010 at 11:05am
America's job satisfaction has reached an all time low, a recent study concludes. This isn't just a recession-induced anomaly. Satisfaction has been dropping for more than two decades. Among the reasons cited is that fewer workers consider their jobs to be exciting, and the trend could stifle innovation, competitiveness and productivity.

Enter Dan Pink. He believes that employers are using all the wrong motivators with today's workers. Numerous social science studies have shown that to solve complex problems, the old carrot and stick approach does not work. Traditional pay-based rewards and punishments might produce results for straightforward, small scale assignments, but fail miserably for the kind of right-brain problems that many workers now face.

As Pink explains in his book and TED presentation, business must use the science of motivation to get the most out of employees in the new economy:

So what are these motivators that are proven to work? According to Pink, they are:
1. Autonomy: the urge to direct our own lives.
2. Mastery: the desire to get better at something that matters.
3. Purpose: the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves.

As I see it, social media use in the workplace is vital to all three of these motivators:

1. Employees show autonomy through social media because they:
  • Stay connected to their social and professional network.
  • Share ideas and feedback with industry peers.
  • Speak candidly about their company and its products/services (up to a point).
  • Reach out to customers/clients/partners in an open environment.

2. Employees attain mastery through social media because they:
  • Expand their knowledge base through peer networks and organizations.
  • Are more attuned to competitors, innovations and trends.
  • Enhance skills in areas such as customer service, branding and public relations.
  • Drive innovation and improvement through crowdsourcing. 

3. Employees find purpose through social media because they:

  • Provide value and put others first.
  • Champion the good works and higher goals of their employer.
  • Are part of professional network that strives for excellence.
  • Share thoughts, opinions and ideas that help others improve.

Sadly, a majority of companies ban social media use on the job. This is a shortsighted move that only helps to speed the adoption of smartphones (I know several people who use smartphones to get around strict workplace rules).

Companies can't and shouldn't try to stop social media use on the job. Forward thinking employers will turn social to their advantage as a tool to motivate, recruit and retain talent.

 

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tags:
employment, jobs, social_media,
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Holidays Unplugged in the Conch Republic

Jan 4, 2010 at 9:36pm

In lieu of gifts, we spent the holidays in the Conch Republic (aka Key West). Wild, weird, scrumptious, haunted, potent, easygoing, musical, tropical and historical. Ideal place to unplug, but if you need a fix there are several Internet cafes on the island.

 

 

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my_photos, Travel,
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I grew up on the Commodore 64. Does that make me a digital native?

Dec 17, 2009 at 5:53am

We were a Commodore 64 family, and with sales of 17 million (still the best selling PC of all time), so were many others.

You had to know some rudimentary BASIC (computing language) commands in order to load games. As far as I knew, games were the sole purpose of this box. They sometimes took several minutes to load. (Play Commodore games here.)

My floppy disk favorites were Zaxxon and Choplifter. Meanwhile my older brother was playing Zork and some role playing game that you played with others using something called a "modem." We were online in 1985.

Eventually we graduated to the Commodore 128, which seemed like it came from the future. But we still didn't have a mouse. Had to use the Apple IIe at school for that.

So do I qualify as a digital native? Wikipedia says in the widest sense of the term, yes. But it's generally reserved for those who grew up with 21st century technology. Guess I'll have to settle for being a digital forbear.

 

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technology,
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Should today's communications practitioner be a specialist or a generalist?

Dec 10, 2009 at 11:45pm

355/365 - April 24, 2009 by meddygarnet.Photo: meddygarnet

A wise man once said that when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

But today, communications practitioners have access to such a bewildering array of tools, they never have to reach for a hammer unless it's the best thing for the job.

So the question is, with all these tools at your disposal, do you diversify your skill set, or keep hammering away? Are you a pr, ad or web professional, or some kind of multidisciplinary guru? (I'm mostly directing this towards solo practitioners, startups, small agencies.) Arguments for both approaches:

Arguments for Specialization
1. My positioning is tight: I own a niche that fills a very specific need for clients or future employers.

2. My expertise is deep: I know my subject matter as good as anyone and I can authoritatively blog, present or give an interview on it.

3. My community is my toolset: What I don't know I can collaborate on or outsource to my network.

Arguments for Generalization
1. My door is always open: I can take on (and get paid for) almost any job that a client or employer throws my way.

2. My theory is we're in an age of "good enough": We've entered an era of conversational marketing that's filled with free, easy-to-use online tools and user generated content that makes much of the "professional grade" content that specialists provide less necessary. Besides, social media is turning all of us into internet marketers.

3. My search engine is my toolset. What I don't know I can ask google or my network about, then do it (mostly) myself.

Coming from an integrated agency background and now in the digital/social/pr realm, I fall under the generalist category. Where do you land?
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tags:
advertising, career, pr, social_media,
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Andy Giefer

Andy Giefer

Work: marketing pro steeped in social media and pr. passionate about connecting remarkable brands with good people.

Play: run, travel, learn, laugh, read, write, indie music, craft beer, español, baseball, social media.

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