Why an army needs to build an army

So, before I begin with the official post, I need to put something out there. I abhor people who always say, "Oh, I would have done that THIS way" when they really don't know what they're talking about. Non-parental types should probably not tell parents how to care for children. Unless you have dated the person previously, you should not tell someone how to deal with a significant other. Along these lines, a person who has yet to publish a book (like me, for example) probably should not tell New York Times Best Seller authors how she would have approached a chapter of said best selling book.
Now that we all agree on that, I thought there were 2 missing elements in the "Build Your Army" chapter of Trust Agents.

Some people are missing from the staff

The chapter, in essence, is about how to leverage a lot of people and technology to spread your word, which of course makes all the sense in the world. Brogan and Smith mention the General. They mention the army. But in my limited experience, you need some other staff members in there too. One could say that maybe you need a Lieutenant Commander who you can send out there. He or she can get your army riled up and maybe can ask them to spread a message or a link so that you aren't always having to go out there and ask for favors (Brogan and Smith talk about how to ask such favors of your army, but it's nice sometimes to have someone else ask for you).

I was thinking a Drill Sargent might be good too. The chapter talks about a sponsored blog post Brogan did that earned him a lot of consternation from his army and his army's friends. If you have a person who can go out there and say, "Listen, you weasels, this is what it is, this is the right story, now go and tell your friends," wouldn't that be kind of nice?

I'm kind of joking. I'm also horrible at remembering the proper martial order of titles so I'm not even going to try to carry this analogy further. But my point is that every general, if you want to be literal, needs a supporting staff. Even if a general has an army, it's still the general by him or herself, but now with a lot of people to guide. It seems to me like delegation would become increasingly important and helpful in this scenario. You don't want to end up like George McClellan from the American Civil War, who thought he really could do everything by himself and then realized he had been held hostage by "Quaker guns." Bad PR, that.

Sometimes it's an army creating an army

Another thing I was hoping to see in this chapter was how a company or corporation could or should use employees to help build the army.

One of the things we have been talking to our clients about is that when it comes to Social Media, research and preparation are utterly necessary. You should not even sign into Facebook until everyone in your company has marching orders. The more employees you have, the more complex this can be, but here's why it's important.

* Do you know if your company is going to be represented via one central page or account or whether every individual will have a company-related account?

* Can individuals use their existing personal accounts to drive traffic to your corporate account(s)?

* Do you want individual employees to even have individual accounts that can't be monitored?

* What kind of persona do you want your corporate social media identity to evoke? Everyone has to understand this. You don't want a CSR to answer a tweet with "Hey dude" if you are trying to be button-down professional

These are just a few of the questions to which there should be solid, understood answers. And it's important to make sure that everyone within your company or corporation (your real-life army) understands that each of them have the power to build an army, but it perhaps should be an army following your company as the general, not just one person. This becomes a very difficult dance, because social media is innately about person-to-person relationships, and too many mentions of a company can come off as being "selly."

Because of these complexities, I was hoping that the chapter would cover a company's role when the general of a growing army. There were corporate examples, like GM asking people to submit photos or videos of their favorite GM car. But to me, that falls more into a promotion kind of relationship. Who was commenting on those photos and videos? Who was spreading the word about the opportunity to submit those materials? Was it a corporate GM account? Was it "suzyatGM"?

Even though Brogan and Smith are right in that our current society is increasingly based on individuals rather than companies with lots of employees, the fact is that there are still a lot of companies and corporations out there, and they are all running big risks if they are jumping into the deep end of the Social Media pool without considering questions and answers to those questions first. I think the chapter could have been enriched by delving into this side of things a bit more.

What do you think?

Image by Stephen Davies. http://www.sxc.hu/profile/steved_np3

Is it possible to be a Human Artist on Twitter?

I just finished "The Human Artist" chapter of Trust Agents. Really good chapter, really strong advice. As has happened, eerily, through my time reading this book, what I read seems to contrast starkly with some thought or experience from my own life. I was just thinking a few hours before reading the chapter that Twitter is an increasing challenge for me. I like being human. I also like networking. Can you do both?

What does being a Human Artist Mean?

A lot of the advice that Brogan and Smith give in this chapter revolves around how to be human on the web. They return to the fact that we can't see facial expressions, we can't hear a tonality, so we have to depend upon online cues. One of the ways we can leave a really good impression is to make sure we have digital "touches" with our contacts on a regular basis. Offer assistance. Wish happy birthday. On time. Answer emails. Follow people back. Comment back.

I am already overwhelmed

I have been actively trying to grow my Twitter network for a couple of months now, and things are finally starting to mesh for me. A little. I joined a blog chat Sunday night (thank you Mack Collier) and, get ready for it...jumped over the "100 followers" mark. As Twitter users go, I am not even a speck on the planet Jupiter.

Even so, there is a giant difference between having over 100 followers (I am following a fair fraction of them as I am happy to say the majority of my followers are super interesting) and what I had a month ago. I enjoy being able to have personal exchanges with people just because I am naturally a people person and it's great to be able to "talk the talk" with people in a similar profession or a similar mindset. To be the kind of human Twitterer I want to be, however, I am having to allot more and more time to scanning everyone's posts. The other day I found myself wanting to just look at replies to see if I was missing any comments or questions, and I thought, "Man...what am I going to do if I get 175 followers?"

Or try 11,750?

So then I look at people like Julien Smith, Chris Brogan, Ann Handley, and others. They have thousands of followers . Now, I am not particularly worried about reaching those kinds of numbers, but it does beg the question. If I am struggling to keep my humanity intact with a little over 100 followers, how can you do it when you have 1,000 or 10,000 or 100,000?

I guess that's my only qualm with the "Human Artist" chapter. Sure, you can try to make sure, via a spreadsheet, that you leave a comment for everyone once every blue moon, but that is sort of placing a shroud of authentic conversation over what really is a mechanical reminder. What if your follower has been Bland Bonnie for days and then it comes time to leave a comment for that person? Normally, you wouldn't. On the other hand, you might be missing some real gems if it's not Bonnie's turn on your spreadsheet.

It's not just Twitter. I see a lot of people on Twitter talking about trying to respond to Blog comments or Facebook friend requests.

Diametrically opposed objectives

I see that the next chapter is called "Build an Army," and I can already surmise what that chapter is going to say. But I am really having a hard time understanding how these goals can co-exist. Get as many online relationships going as possible, but also remain human for all of those people. I just can't see how to accomplish that successfully. What am I missing?

Image by Stephen Eastop. http://www.sxc.hu/profile/Eastop

Always find your way to dreaming

Last weekend, I sat down in front of my television to unwind a bit from a busy week. I happened upon a show that was about a woman who was really struggling in her life. Her boyfriend of 26 years had passed away suddenly and she just could not pull herself out of her despair. She was asked what she was hoping for in her future. She had no answer.

If you've ever gone through a life-altering experience you probably have felt the same sensation, and life-altering does not have to mean the end of someone else's life. I look around at the news I see every day and all I can imagine is the people who are being affected. Every person that HP let go recently - they may be in a state of despair. The fishermen in the gulf and their families are in a state of despair as their entire world changes. I saw a story yesterday that this Summer may have the lowest job availability since 1970. What does that mean for this year's high school graduates who are dreaming of going to college in the Fall? It is a poor season for dreaming, it seems.

Dreaming does not mean doing

A lot of people find themselves spiraling ever downwards because they feel like dreams are a to-do list. My friends and I are entering our 30s now, and we all had dreams of what that would mean. The pressure to see all of those dreams come true is palpable. That is the way dreams are killed, though. Dreaming comes from the heart and soul. Dreaming is imagination and wishing and hoping. If you can't make a dream happen right away, you can still hope that it will happen later. But if you stop dreaming, it can be very hard to rebuild that little light that looks ahead and paints pictures for you.

A company can dream

Just as dreaming may be coming hard to individuals, companies may also be struggling to get back to a place of dreaming and hope. These are hard times, and dreaming may seem like a luxury. Who has time to dream, anyway? But for a company, dreaming is where big ideas come from. Dreaming is how you "make your own game," to quote Trust Agents. Wishing for things makes you act in new ways, which in turn can lead to newly opened doors that you didn't even know were there.

Do not despair

It's hard to uncover good news these days. I read an article in Fortune Magazine this morning that said that our unemployment rates may never bounce back to normal. Our society is going to have to readjust itself. Readjustment is hard. Change is hard. Change alters what we dreamed before, which can cause us to despair. But rather than sink into a swampy marsh of disappointment, find the path back to dreaming. Maybe there are other dreams that you haven't even thought about that you could return to. Maybe the loss of one opportunity could pave the way for a brand new, better one. Dreaming is the drumbeat we follow to the best future we can create. Dreams are our building blocks. Dreams are our foundations. Keep them coming.

Image credit: http://www.sxc.hu/profile/rosaria31

Chapter 5: Agent Zero, and why all agencies should read it

Being on Twitter as an advertising agency person can be kind of strange sometimes. On the one hand, working at an agency these days means wanting to keep your clients as informed as they possibly can be about everything that's going on everywhere. On the other hand, staying informed also means realizing that we are increasingly in a "do it yourself" era. Thriving as an advertising agency while nurturing your clients can be a difficult balance act sometimes. Teach, but learn to let go. Educate, but point out your own skills.

This was on my mind as I set out to read chapter 5 of Trust Agents, which is called Agent Zero. Perhaps that is why it occurred to me, about halfway through the chapter, that "Agent Zero" is really a chapter for and about agencies today. Of course, it probably was not intended to be that way, but let me show you what I mean.

Awareness: The first part of the chapter talks about awareness and the many meanings of awareness. Awareness of your own surroundings. People being aware of you. You being aware of people being aware of you. This is all in relation, primarily, to the online world, but awareness is perhaps one of the most important traits an agency must have today. Indeed, it is essential. An agency must be aware of everything every client is facing. This means that events in the world that are totally outside of the scope of an agency's business might suddenly become the agency's business. An agency must strive to show clients that there is an awareness there. After all, an agency is in the service industry and is trying to sell a service. To prove to clients that you legitimately care, you must show that you are aware. Agencies must be aware of everything that is going on technologically and in the marketing world. And of course, agencies must be aware of what is going on with other agencies.

Attention: The second major topic in the chapter is attention. How to get it, how to pay it. This goes hand in hand with awareness, but is more deep. Reading the news isn't enough. Reading the news and thinking about all of your clients is paying attention. A lot of the chapter focuses on how an individual can gain attention through online social networks like Facebook or Twitter, but then there is a section about meetups and the importance of face-to-face meetings. For an agency, this is absolutely key. A really good agency will strive to be present at major trade shows. This signals to clients that you are paying attention not just to your pretty booth graphics but also to what is going on in the industry. Is the trade show dead or crowded? How is your client's booth traffic? For an agency, paying attention can earn you attention. Alerting a client that an ad was placed really well in a leading publication is good news for everybody. Alerting a client that a competitor is talking trash can stave off major problems and prove that you are an invaluable team member. Attentiveness, following on the coattails of awareness, can be a game-changer for agencies today.

Influence: This is where Brogan and Smith talk about being the priest and building the church. There are two ways that agencies can do this today.

1) Be prepared to offer insightful advice regarding all of the new "stuff" going on right now. If your client, who is in the field a lot, wants to know if he or she should get a Droid, the new iPhone 4, or a Blackberry, you should be able to answer contextually with his or her best interests in mind. If a client calls and says, "My competitor is on Twitter, I want to start an account now," be ready to show your expertise by saying, "Well, I don't think they're really using Twitter effectively. I think you should wait." If that's the right answer.

2) Agencies can also work as an "agent zero" because agencies have the networking capacity to incorporate the talent of many different people not just within the agency but also externally. An agency works to build relationships with programmers, printers, artists, computer repair shops, and much more. The successful agency can use this network to influence a client to work with them, or to sway a client to try a new kind of project that will be a giant step forward.

Reputation: In the chapter, reputation is again about the online world. Who are you linking to? Who are you recommending? One thing agencies can follow word-for-word from this chapter is to get on the LinkedIn ship. The questions and answers section, participation in groups, and other methodologies are excellent ways to build reputation while also showing you know how to do so online. Reputation can also be built and improved in the offline world, and for agencies, this is key. In a marketing world that is changing rapidly, agencies need to differentiate themselves, preferably in a good way. What will you build your reputation on?

Authority: It is hard for an agency to do what Brogan and Smith advise and "make your own game." Again, working in an agency is a service business. Making your own game can equate to not listening or not caring about what the client wants. When an agency wants to build authority, there is one really important step to take. Propose things, execute well, and achieve success. Agencies strive for perfection because nothing else is acceptable. The difference between a person who just loaded Photoshop at home and a professional designer is immeasurable. Yet it is not tangible. When that professionally designed ad wins a Reader Study award or increases web traffic - tangibility achieved. Agencies should also strive to walk the walk, not talk the talk. If an agency is preaching that websites need to be revamped, that agency should have a site they are proud of. If an agency is preaching that Social Media is the next best thing after buttered bread, they should be able to talk about it. Intelligently.

The lessons in this chapter, again, are geared more towards people looking to build an online reputation as a trust agent. However, to me, the lessons work perfectly as a "must do" list for today's agency.

What do you think?

Image by Marija Rajkovic. http://www.sxc.hu/profile/grim12

Twitter as Marketing 101. I'm your hero.

So a couple of days ago I posted a hateful, spiteful Blog about Twitter. And though I'm not really apologizing, I have to admit that there is a bit more to the story. Factually, if you're a marketer, experienced or aspiring (or a little bit of both) you can get an MBA's worth of education every day if you follow the right people.

I don't know if you noticed, but a LOT of people use Twitter, so finding the right people to follow can be a bit tricky. Have no fear, however. I will be your superhero. Having just read "The Archimedes Effect" chapter in Trust Agents, I feel inspired to share some of what I have learned in my Twitter experience. To wit, here are some people that I follow right now that I feel are helping me a great deal (whether they realize it or not). I think they might help you out too.

Marketing in General

There are quite a few people I follow who can offer wisdom on pretty much any facet of marketing. Some of these folks are:

Ann Handley: @marketingprofs. She keeps you up-to-date on what's going on at, well, marketingprofs.com. Includes reminders about webinars that you will kick yourself for missing!

@BethHarte: Beth is another mastermind behind marketingprofs. She tends to moderate Tweet chats that are full of excellent information.

Fast Company Magazine @fastcompany Sometimes they post things that are just plain funny, but I find the majority of their tweets extremely informative. You almost forget that they're trying to sell a magazine.

Julien Smith @julien Co-author of Trust Agents, Julien tends to delve deep into the philosophy of and behind marketing.

@chrisbrogan: The other co-author of Trust Agents, Chris follows his own advice. There's a hint of self-promotion but also more than a dash of accessibility.

John Jantsch @ducttape I've seen Jantsch's name around for quite some time. He is a veritable fount of knowledge on all things marketing. It's great to be able to get his take on things every day!

@allenmireles Another woman who is unassuming yet brilliant. Don't ya just hate people like that?!? :)

Blogging

If you are here, you likely have some interest in Blogging. Blogging is a topic that just seems to rev up more and more, so it's great to be able to get tons of expert advice for FREE! Here's who I follow for that.

@DeniseWakeman: Queen of the Blog Squad, you'll get 3-5 excellent tidbits of advice every day.

@kikolani: Another great resource. Lots of expert advice if you follow this account!

@mackcollier: If you need just 1 reason to follow someone, may I submit for your approval BlogChat (with a hash tag). I just "attended" my first one last night. This gentleman is responsible for this genius. 


Search Engines/Search/Analytics

If the more techy side of things is where you like to chill, you can totally geek out by following these folks:

@johnbattelle: Yep, the author of Search is on Twitter. Lots of insight plus blogging from all of the conferences you wish you could go to!

Rick Klau @rklau: I discovered Rick's expertise a couple of years ago kind of by accident. I happened upon a presentation he did for Google at a not-for-profit. He's a good guy to follow for all things Google related. I learned from following him about draft.blogger.com.

@stephanspencer: SEO expert!

@avinsahskaushik: If you've ever had the experience of watching a webinar by this guy, you can imagine how fun it is to follow him. Lots of useful information plus non-marketing posts that are just as interesting.


PR/Social Media

Jason Baer @jaybaer Jay is a great person to follow on Twitter. Another person who demonstrates knowledge without being snobby. Good stuff!

@MariSmith: Queen of Facebook. Mari has her finger on all of the latest happenings on that crazy site. Plus she has the coolest accent out of any of the other marketing peeps I follow :)

David Meerman Scott @dmscott: Scott's book (what is that?) really changed a lot of my thinking about marketing. Now you can follow him!

Webinars

If you're looking to add webinars to your mix, make sure you follow @shelleyryan. Formerly of marketingprofs, Shelley is working on a new webinar related project. She teaches and learns at the same time. Plus she's a foodie, so she'll make ya hungry!

These are (I hope) all of the people whose posts I really look for every day. They get me to think, they teach me stuff, and it just seems fair that I let you know that they are out there. All you have to do to drink from the fountain is step up :)

ETA: Fixed Rick Klau's Twitter Handle. D'oh.

Image by Julien Tromeur. http://www.sxc.hu/profile/julosstock

Yoga for Marketers

Do you like to do Yoga? Have you ever done Yoga? I'm in quite a Yoga phase right now. All different kinds. Some Rodney Yee, some Suzanne Deason, even some Biggest Loser Yoga (ouch). One of the great things about Yoga is that the advice and steps you take during a work-out can carry through to the rest of your day. It is not so surprising, then, that I realized that marketers could also benefit from some Yoga wisdom. Don't worry -- you won't be doing any physical stretches here. It's all in your head :)

Find Your Center

At the beginning of a lot of Yoga work-outs, you are advised to find your center while standing evenly on your two feet. For a marketer, finding your center means squarely standing on your two feet, which are knowledge and experience. Do not be swayed too much by what others are saying or doing. Listen, but remain conscious of what you want to achieve and what you want to accomplish. Keep your eyes on your goals, and if your knowledge and experience plant you in a way that is unique, all the better.

Breathe

No matter what kind of Yoga you are doing, you will hear an emphasis on breathing. Breathe in deeply, exhale out tension and toxins. Even while you are asking your body to stretch its limits, your mind works on concentrating on how your breath goes in and out. For a marketer, breathing is actually important physically. The world is a stressful place, and at least for me, I only realize how shallow my breaths get when I sit down and actually try to take deep breaths. But a marketer can also concentrate on internal rhythms, goals, objectives, and desires while working on everyday tasks, while building a foundation, while going to meetings and/or conferences. This kind of approach -- concentrating on one thing in the foreground while in the background you are working on something else -- is behind many ideas that are floating out there today.

Stay balanced

There isn't a lot you can do in Yoga that doesn't require some amount of balance. Similarly, there isn't a lot a marketer can do that doesn't require some balance, and I don't mean just the bottom line. Are you balancing your online, offline, and Social Media campaigns appropriately? Are you balancing your time in promoting yourself versus promoting others? Are you balancing your time in completing tasks the regular way while learning all the time how to do things in new ways?

Turn things upside down

One of the more common poses in Yoga is called Downward Facing Dog. Your head is down, your legs are stretched back. The idea is that turning upside down will release toxins and stress. For a marketer, turning things upside down can shine the light on a new way to approach things. But upside down is also a good way to think about how a marketer can construct a campaign. We all know the ultimate goal: sell something. What is the last step before the sale? How do you get to that step? And the one before that?

Honor your body

Finally, a lot of Yoga instructors remind you to honor your body. Sometimes it makes you feel kind of bad. The instructor may be leaning backwards to reach his or her ankles and you are lucky to reach back even a little. But you are told to honor your body and its restrictions. The same holds true for marketers. Not everyone can do what the great gurus of marketing do, especially not at first. If you can't do the full pose in Yoga, you find an adaptation. The same holds true for marketers. If you don't think you have enough content for a weekly Blog, start with a monthly or quarterly e-newsletter, or start with comments. If you just can't seem to master a certain skill, accept that limitation. Not everyone can turn themselves into a human pretzel. Trying can result in serious pain. The same holds true for marketing. Do not extend beyond what you are comfortable doing. The result will not be favorable.

Do you have a hobby that feeds your soul and also carries you through your profession? I'd love to hear about it!


Image by Aaron Neifer. http://www.sxc.hu/profile/knife18

Being human and the French Revolution

Just finished chapter 3 of Trust Agents. I liked this chapter a lot better than chapter 2, actually. The chapter is called One Of Us, and it's about how a trust agent must learn how to be one with the crowd and how that is a different game from brand evangelism.

A lot of people are talking about "talking human" these days. I already mentioned Harry Gottlieb's webinar about talking human. Avinash Kaushik talked about being human in his recent webinar. And Brogan and Smith also note that the authentic human is the one who will meet a lot of success on the web.

All great revolutions must face a counter-revolution

Turning marketing into a game of human relationships is a revolution of magnificent proportions. Selling by not selling may not be what Ogilvy ever could have envisioned. My love of History tells me one thing though. Any time there is a revolution, a counter-revolution follows. The French Revolution is a great example of this. While people were cutting each others' heads off for fun (and while women were knitting in the front row before the gallows to catch some blood), other counter-revolutionaries were already thinking that maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Out of all of that chaos came Napoleon, who not only wanted to rule France, but he kind of wanted to be Emperor of the whole world. Mexico's history is a patchwork quilt of revolutions and then counter-revolutions. Here in the US, the rebellious sixties were forced to reconcile with the super conservative 80s.

If everyone talks human, is anyone talking human?

A dear friend of mine always says that the words "trust me" are an automatic turn-off for her. For Star Wars fans, "trust me" may call up Han Solo's sort of false confidence too. So here is my question. Let's say that more and more people start following the advice of Brogan and Smith and Kaushik and Gottlieb. Everyone is authentic, everyone is doing you favors, lifting up the noobs, and life on the internet has become a kind of 21st century Pollyanna.

Is anyone really being authentic at that point?

If every person who comments on your blog or starts following you on Twitter ultimately mentions a product or a consultation service, are you going to start to wonder if anyone REALLY is interested in you as a human? Moreover, are YOU doing anything because you are really interested in other peoples' humanity?

I think that the idea of marketing via personal relationships is a wonderful idea, and the way that it's explained in Trust Agents gets no complaint from me. But statistically speaking, this approach is bound to run into a counter-revolution at some point. Maybe people will WANT to know on the front end if you're trying to sell something. Then you can talk about the baseball game.

What do you think? Will the online environment eventually tighten up in reaction to too much touchy-feely? How will that happen? Maybe "that guy" that Brogan and Smith talk about, the one who hands out business cards at every possible moment, maybe "that guy" will become the new Napoleon. You just never know.

Image by Michal Zacharzewski. http://www.sxc.hu/profile/mzacha