socialFIEND - Social Media & Marketing Ideas!

Props to Chris Abrham and team for a great Twitter How To for PR and Marketing!

2009-05-01T10:38:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share a great webinar I reviewed today about Twitter and how to cultivate a following using Twitter. Chris Abraham and his team get social better than most companies I have reviewed. Be sure to follow him via Twitter. @chrisabraham and be sure to tell him I sent you @socialfiend.

Great presentation. It's time well spent if you plan on implementing any kind of brand strategy via Twitter.

Important note, whether you plan on using Twitter now or in the future, much like domain names it's important to mark your territory and get a Twitter account that represents your brand before anyone else does. @mycompany is best to save for future planning if it's not of current interest, @myname is also good if you plan on having a personal account.

Enjoy!

A Practical Guide to Twittering for Business

View more presentations from chrisabraham.

Referral Marketing to Build a Huge Twitter Following, But Why!???

2009-04-13T07:24:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my fellow Titterites I visited an interesting website: http://tweetergetter.com/socialfiend.

TweeterGetter and it's inventor Gary McCaffrey have an interesting proposition, invite your current Twitter followers to this site and together we will build a list of over 19,000 followers for you.

After visiting the site you ask, Why? It's simple really, by introducing your current friends to investigate and launch an invite of their own you become connected via referral to those folks who also jump into to invite their friends to TweeterGetter and so on and so forth. Via referral marketing those who opt in are bringing new Twitterers to TweeterGetter but also filling in spaces below you in an ever growing stream of new followers.

This tool is exactly how all network marketing systems function. By simply inviting two, five or ten people to get started with http://tweetergetter.com/socialfiend, I am effectively beginning my own network under whomever invited me to TweeterGetter.com.

I get this custom invite to continually build my personal list of followers and continue the chain:

"Hey check this out...

I just found this site that shows you a
way of getting 1000's of new followers
on twitter, I just started using it
myself and its starting to work
already.

http://tweetergetter.com/socialfiend

Thought it might interest you.

socialfiend"

So why do this... Well I live virtually through two cardinal rules:

1. Pervasive is Good - the more places I can be found where my message is of high value, authentic, informative, congruent and genuine the higher my perceived integrity, value and trust with my public.

2. To leverage and multiply yourself everyone in business must build an army of ambassadors of good will; who know you, like you and will willingly refer their contacts and friends to you.

This list building solution is simply one example of making new introductions possible. The real question is what do you do once you have a list of 19,000 followers and how can you realize real value from your new network...

Happy building!

Kenneth "socialFIEND" Knapp

Easy Video Producer is an awesome product! And best of all it's FREE!

2009-04-01T07:11:00.001-07:00

EVP is an awesome product. After 15 years as a commissioned sales executive, I know that personal, face to face sit down meetings are key. I also found it hard to transfer my offline success online. Until, I started using WEB 2.0 tools to my advantage.

However, those only work once you have captured the right details, and built up trust through, written communications. For most of us this is hard to accomplish. We wind up having to learn to communicate in a medium that is not comfortable to the majority of us, and hard to instill confidence in your customer or potential partner.

Easy Video Producer has broken that barrier for the average person. We simply hit record and leave a message for a friend. All those important facial expressions and tones are conveyed immediately to the visitor and does increase sign ups to your list.

Every person that depends on customer relations to earn an income should be using this medium to share and brand themselves as the person you want to build a relationship and/or do business with.

Imagine showcasing your products with a live videos right from your home office. What if you could do just that for FREE? Click through to Easy Video Producer to get your copy of Easy Video Producer for FREE right now! Get busy and get marketing online the right way.

Follow these simple steps to find success in online marketing:

1. Build a list
2. Gain trust - video testimonials help with this
3. Present value - givers gain
4. Ask for the sale - 90% of sales peoples never ask
5. Repeat - maintain credibility, be consistent, be honest, be a professional with integrity.

Happy Selling,

Kenneth "socialFIEND" Knapp

You can visit the site at http://www.easyvideoproducer.com/clickthru.php?id=14751

Easy Video Producer is an awesome product! And best of all it's FREE!

2009-04-01T07:11:00.000-07:00

EVP is an awesome product. After many years as a commissioned salesman, I know that the personal,face to face sit down is key. I also found it hard to transfer my offline success online. Until, I started using WEB 2.0 tools to my advantage.

However, those only work once you have captured the right details, and built up trust through, written communications. For most of us this is hard to accomplish. We wind up having to learn to communicate in a medium that is not comfortable to the majority of us, and hard to instill confidence in your customer or potential partner.

Easy Video Producer has broken that barrier for the average person. We simply hit record and leave a message for a friend. All those important facial expressions and tones are conveyed immediately to the visitor and does increase sign ups to your list.
Every person that depends on customer relations to earn an income should be using this medium to share and brand themselves as the person you want to build a relationship and/or do business with.

Imagine showcasing your products with a live pic right from you home office.

Written by Jim Allen

You can visit the site at http://www.easyvideoproducer.com/clickthru.php?id=14751

Let's talk viral marketing - Building lists through video works!

2009-04-01T07:02:00.000-07:00

As an internet marketer I am interested in keeping up with new ideas and trends in internet marketing. Since I have been on the internet for a long time doing things like creating my own internet city, website promotion, making money on the internet, I have seen the internet change by leaps and bounds.

Today, in order to be relevant in internet marketing your website or blog has to do more than just be a static webpage, now you have to have content and different methods to share that content such as having your own blog, perhaps forums, and now the biggie, video. With increasing access to broadband, video is now possible for virtually everyone to use. Video has become the new must have have, not only for internet marketers but for everyone who has a website.

Local Biz Owners who have a website can especially benefit from video. With video, there are new opportunities to get out your message, advertise your business, make video postcards, send video e-mails create how-to the ideas are endless.

We website owners however, are thinking gee we want to get in on the video thing, but it is something else we have to learn how to do, another learning curve, and for many of us the idea just sort of fizzles.

I am excited because I don’t have to miss out this time, because I lack the expertise to create and broadcast videos or perhaps I just don’t have the time.

I found a unique new software I thought I would check out, to see if I could use it. I was hoping it would be easy to use, to create video and then put it on my website. I also wanted the video to look good, something I wouldn’t mind people watching and/or downloading to pass it around.

Well I couldn’t believe it. This software made it drop dead easy to make videos and to put them on my website. I actually was able to make a quality, professional looking video in less than 5 min. This sounds crazy I know, but I did it.

If video is something you have been wanting to do but felt really intimidated by it up to this point, you might want to try this software for yourself, because the best part is you can use the software and it doesn’t cost you anything. That was important to me because I didn’t know if I would be able to use the software, and I didn’t want to pay for something I wasn’t sure I could even use.

Happy Selling,

Kenneth "socialFIEND" Knapp

Can Twitter, Facebook, Blogger and MySpace net results on your bottom line!?

2009-02-02T07:44:00.000-08:00

"Please note this is a not meant to be a comprehensive look into the world of social networking or a comparative analysis of social platforms. This is a basic how to for folks looking to leverage Web 2.0 technologies in their sales and marketing practices." Now back to my article...

The answer in a word is, YES! But the important point to make is "HOW" can they impact your sales and marketing strategy to positively influence suspects into becoming your prospect by entering your sales system or approaching you directly?

Here are some basic tactics I have used and perhaps you may see others employing in their day to day lead cultivation campaigns.

Social Networks: Although there are many platforms from which to choose, the overall goal of each system is to connect to and communicate with friends, family and new contacts. For the average widget salesmen these systems can cause a bit of confusion between what is personal and what is professional. In today's Enterprise 2.0 space personal and professional in certain cases must coexist. Which may force some folks into keeping their personal lives offline if coworkers or a boss are watching (there have been plenty of documented cases of people getting fired for what they type in blogs or post in social communities). Here are a few tactics that may work to cultivate a professional following and will introduce folks to your company or product quickly.

Plaxo Pulse - a personal rolodex of sorts that has grown into a full blown social network. This system is typically used by professionals to keep in touch with each other and make contact with other professionals regionally. I like Plaxo for it's ability to keep my contact info current even when some of my contacts change companies. Anything to save time. ;-)

Facebook, MySpace etc... Social communities seem to be limitless today. The goal for sales professionals is to locate a network that is likely to be rich with target suspects, meaning you hope to find lots of people you can potentially sell to overtime. Your challenge will be to locate them and approach them in a way that is not obtrusive, rude or salesly.

Important things to remember when you look to leverage a social community for something as selfish as God for bid personal gain or income. Remember to be honest, open, fair and approachable. Let people know in your bio you are a sales professional or business owner. Tell folks why you joined the group and what you hope to get out of it. Don't be vague, use false names, spam the system with your URL or ads.

I suggest finding ways to help people with your knowledge, share advice, give pointers, ask delving questions that seek to share your expertise while possibly uncovering folks who may need your help as a professional. For instance on LinkedIn you might consider starting a group that discusses something relevant to your business practice like, "Property Investment User Group". If you are a real estate attorney and mortgage broker this may net you a nice group of professionals who will seek your advice and professional skill set over time. You might also try posting questions in LinkedIn or Yahoo Answers like this one: "What scares you the most about property investment in today's economy?" or "What's the biggest headache you have in your current portfolio?" both of these questions will most likely connect you with people looking to invest or folks who already own many properties or would like to. Connect and nurture these relationships and you just might find a few new customers in your future.

Sharing quality content exudes value in the consumer's mind. Also remember the guiding tenant, "Money Follows Value!" If you seek quality customers, then offer your suspects and prospects lots and lots of value! This one principle will cultivate a powerful funnel of prospects overtime if you take the time to create meaningful, impactful and valuable messages, info gifts or videos that are interesting and compelling to your target market. In order for this tactic to work you will need to understand your target market, who they are, where they live online and what is meaningful to them.

Tell your friends and family what's happening in your business. Any time a system allows your to pulse, tweep, update or share let your friends and family know what matters to you. If your company just launched a new product let your network know about it and how you played a part. You can always post specials, coupons and close outs. try giving something away just for your network! Givers get as they say.

Look for other professionals you can network with. A referral network is one of the most powerful solutions to breaking into to meaningful accounts and companies in your area quickly. Work with everybody including your competitors and complimentary solution providers in your area.

Twitter - "If I had more time I would have written less." I love this quote. It rings in my ears every time I log into to my Twitter account to hit up my Tweeps. but how does a sales professional use Twitter to cultivate a never ending stream of leads and suspects? Let people know why you use twitter. For instance Twitter can enable fun solutions or even important useful solutions such as: "whatshakin" if you follow this Twitter account you will be automatically notified when any 2.5 earth quake strikes globally. Over time you may notice trends in seismic activity or simply have the latest news when your co-worker get shakin in the office.

Other things Twitter can let you see and understand... check out products like TweetDeck and look at the Tweet Scoop function to see a tag cloud of topics that are buzzing right now. Talk about knowing your market. You can test theories once you have a big enough following. Try twittering about a hot topic on Twitter and watch the result via Tweet Scoop. Can your topic become the biggest buzz on the system? Or by clicking on a hot topic of choice you can see who is saying what about your topic. You can locate and follow folks who might be big users of your product or perhaps influencers of your target market, now check and see if they manage a blog. Perhaps they may be willing to post or write an article covering your subject matter?

Blog, blog blog. If you consider yourself an expert in a field of endeavor talk about it. If you can find an interesting aspect of what you do. Focus on broad applications of your knowledge, be careful though if you write about very technical topics you may filter out the average online user and thus limit your market in this sense. You may end up preaching to the choir instead of cultivating new prospects.

The message here is marketing opportunities abound online and the vast majority of them are free if you only take the time to structure a proper strategy for taking your message and persona online.

Some basic caveats you should keep in mind...

Be specific - don't be vague and run around your topic. Let people know what you do and how you do it. Talk about your role and responsibilities.

Be honest - don't lie or mislead your public. To maintain integrity you have to be honest and open with your readers.

Telling isn't selling - don't simply talk about you and your product. Talk about subjects that may be compelling to your readers and target market. Try to think about issues, problems and challenges your target market may face when thinking about your product or service.

I hope you find some useful ideas above. Remember to have fun and be yourself. 80% of the sale is you and only 20% is about the company you present. People buy from people they like.

Happy selling!

Kenneth Knapp
Regional Sales Manager - LA and OC - California
www.airband.com - day job

hobbies - martial arts
http://bjjtalk.blogspot.com
http://www.kungfusansooriverside.com

Time is precious, don't waste it.

2008-09-22T11:32:00.000-07:00

Many friends and contacts often comment that I am the busiest person they know. They wonder how over the years I have found time to manage a challenging sales and marketing career, works side projects, raise two fantastic children with my amazing wonderful wife and make time for personal endeavors aside from entrepreneurial and work related tasks.

I wanted to blog for a moment about time management and taking time for yourself. You can't make time, you must take time for yourself.

I have met thousands of professionals across a wide spectrum of professions over my fifteen year career. Many of them are type "A" personalities who as business managers and leaders must focus much of their time on day-to-day responsibilities at the office. But yet many of them find personal time to delve into the space within to grow as professionals and people regularly.

Although time in the office serves to progress projects, focus team and drive revenues it does little to enhance life and experience aside from work. The truly exceptional professionals I have engaged who most impress me have found time for themselves as well as their families and career. It's a challenge yes, but the rewards far exceed the challenges in my mind.

So what, you may ask, am I referring to...? Life, worldy endeavors, well rounded experience, challenges above and beyond those that impact your pay check and career. I'd like to highlight a few executives I have encountered who may focus away from the office on running marathons, road racing or mastering Brazilian Jiu Jitsu or other physical endeavors. These select individuals take personal development to physical and mental levels few experience.

Did you know that .001% Americans completed a marathon in 2007? (http://www.marathonguide.com/features/Articles/2007RecapOverview.cfm), of just over 222,000,000 adults as of 2007 one one thousand of one percent have even completed a 26.2 mile race. No wonder most of us lose our breadth running to get the phone when it rings. ;-) But one of the most impressive CIO's I have ever met takes time out annually to challenge himself for a personal best in Marathon.

The number of participants in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tournaments if we estimate 100 tournaments held nationwide per year with 500 participants (50,000 total) each we get .0001% of 296,410,000 American's as of our 2005 census. Or just one ten thousand of our population competes annually in this style of competition.

It's no wonder so few earn so much in America. The greatest leaders I have met in business, those who have obtained the highest office and manage the greatest number of subbordinates usually focus some time weekly on endeavors aside from their career. They spend time at the gym, doing Yoga, teaching or learning martial arts, competing or creating.

So what does that teach us of leadership and great leaders? I would suggest it tells us many leaders endeavor to first master themselves, to challenge self before challenging others. They strive to be the best person they can be to help others do likewise.

I recently had a conversation with a networking contact who shared a story regarding his CEO of a Southern California based tech firm. This leader routinely joined his employees in physical endeavor. Annually he joins a team of three others in a Muddy Buddy run. In which teams of five (5) individuals set out together to conquer just over three miles of extremely hilly terrain and multiple obstacles including the dreaded mud bog to beat out hundreds of teams for the podium. Fun yes, but a physical and mental challenge just the same. The team in question is now ranked fifth overall and has their sites on top honors this year.

I also enjoy thinking on one of my contacts who prides himself on the number of days he spends on the ocean sport fishing in coastal waters, not contracts signed or deals completed. His most precious numbers relate to the largest catch, days out of the office and tournament victories. And yet he is a much needed asset to his company and one of their most talented business managers.

Personally I focus on submission grappling and mastery of martial arts to occupy my time away from family and the office. Some may say that personal hobbies take too much time away from important family duties, it's personal time that could be better spent. But I would argue there is no more important time spent than the time we spend perfecting ourselves. I call my training, therapy. It's gives me focus and allows me to fully relax through exhausting my body weith new physical challenges weekly. Isn't this truly our life, our time our experience? And don't our endeavors make us stronger, wiser, healthier, more focused individuals for our companies, families and friends?

I would encourage anyone who happens upon this diatribe to discover yourself within so that you might share more without. Take up a new art form, learn a new talent, challenge yourself to excel in a new capacity.

Some of the most talented folks I have run across compete in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu not to be world champion. Personally, at 39 the hopes of me beating 70 or so younger competitors to take tops honors at Mundial would seem an impossible goal, but yet I have competed twice in the World Championships with the simpe goal of improving each time I step on to the floor of competition more prepared than my last year.

Take up a challenge, set a goal. I lost 50 lbs when I took up BJJ just over two years ago. I've placed over six times in competition and placed first recently at a well known tournament just this year.

Go for it! Spend your time wisely and wreap rich reward from discovering more about yourself than the fact you can type 90 words per minute with two fingers. ;-)

Here's to you and your greatest challenge, perfecting self!!!

Best Regards,

Kenneth "socialFIEND" Knapp

Corny yes, but viral just the same. I love it. Me for President!!!

2008-08-14T16:13:00.000-07:00

Wanna be on the news. Check this PalTalk project out. Very cool viral campaign that really sells the idea you or a friend are being written for President of the United States during an election year.

Nice work here people form PalTalk and the great coders behind this nifty little trickery.

Enjoy!

Kenneth "socialFIEND" Knapp
For President!!!!!

CLICK THIS LINK to check out my media coverage from today;'s news report:

www.3NewsOnline.com

Your Future is NOW!

2008-07-03T14:08:00.001-07:00

A close contact of mine just posted a full time job opportunity available today in Southern California for a social community developer. This is an advocacy role as much as a business development or culture development role. I am told passion for Web 2.0 and social networking is key.

The main reason for my blog post today is this community development position is exactly the position my above video discusses. Full time jobs can now be had for folks who love to work social networks, meet friends, connect, contribute, promote and share. Along with developing content in support of the brand and cause of this social network the key role of this new hire will be; steadfast advocate, advisor, contributor and monitor of the social network.

Wait I get to be message board GOD! And get paid for it! Geez most of the folks who I have known who ran message boards or social networks did so as a hobby, part time, for fun or to build their personal rolodex.

So now is the time to leverage your passion for SN, Web 2.0, Widgets, RSS, SEO and put it to work to GET PAID!!!

Want more details, hit me with an email and I'll give you the skinny.

Best of luck,

KK

Kenneth "socialFIEND" Knapp

LifeChangingBox - Great application of social media and contest!

2008-06-30T11:02:00.000-07:00

A contact of mine Chris Abraham has been marketing a very cool social media marketed campaign called Life Changing Box. I'm sure most of you have been invited to it via FaceBook or other social platform Chris stalks. But if not consider yourself invited...

One aspect I really enjoy about this game is if you invite a friend and that lucky person is selected to win randomly by a LifeChangingBox you win too. Pretty sweet concept if you ask me. And the LifeChangingBox chooses you. You simply touch the box during a specific game timeframe that could last minutes or hours. Totally random. I love it!

Rewarding social behavior at it's finest. The prizes seem pretty substantial as well, multiple flat panel TV's of varying sizes have been awarded thus far. Might look nice on the wall this Summer. :-)

If you haven't played the game then check it out (http://www.lifechangingbox.com/) and sign up. It's free and easy to play. Look for other social media marketing applications and share them via comment with me here. I love seeing and interacting with great ideas.

Oh ya and let me know if any of you lucky folk out there win. I'd love to know if my blog had a hand in it.

Best Regards,

KK

Kenneth "socialFIEND" Knapp

Interesting concept - Let's test it to see if it works.

2008-05-25T09:16:00.000-07:00

What would you say if a company offered to split 80% of their revenues with you the social network user????

What if it were FREE and you would never be charged to use their platform or service?

What is all you had to do as a user is log into the website 30 times in a month?

Sounds too good to be true doesn't it?

Well.....

Check out ZenZuu.com

The one thing members are asked to do is invite their friends to join. The official launch of this company happens in August so now is the time to stake your claim to future revenues.

I don't know about all of you but if I can get paid for doing what I love anyway, I'm IN!!!

I hope you will all join me on ZenZuu.com. Just search for "socialFIEND". See you all there.

Best Regards,

Kenneth "socialFIEND" Knapp

Twitter! In Plain English What a Video!

2008-05-09T21:45:00.001-07:00

For those who don't twit, don't care are are utterly clueless please enjoy this video by Lee LeFever at CommonCraft.com/show. Thanks Craig Shoemaker for commenting on my post "Do non-socialnetworking types Twitter???".

This is truely a helpful video your non-techno types.

Enjoy everyone! Thanks Craig.

Kenneth "socialFIEND" Knapp

Niche Wiki!?

2008-05-09T21:16:00.000-07:00

By now you've visited, searched and read Wikipedia. So have you thought about developing a Wiki for your business, hobby, club or school? Check out: http://www.mediawiki.org, to host one of your own. Here's an idea of what a Niche Wiki can look like: http://valuewiki.com.

Think about asking all your friends, strangers, experts and fans to share everything they know about specific topics, host a Wiki and start posting!

What about a Wiki on Hip Hop, culture; clothes, dance, poetry, rap. Detailed lessons on movement, writing, lifestyle, history etc... Deep knowledge collected from all corners of the planet. How to kids in Japan embrace hip hop? What's a swipe? How do you egg roll? What defines old school?

The power of the Wiki is the same as the power of social networks. The content is the people, the power comes from activity and involvement.

Having a centralized repository of knowledge developed, maintained and edited by all can be not only be useful, practical and powerful but necessary. In sales logging best practices, company methods, history, project timelines, product knowledge etc... is incredibly important. So why does my company maintain an archaic FAQ when a Wiki is the answer?

Create, involve, share, maintain and archive. Niche Wiki... Who's got one!

Share some comments on successful Wikis you know about. Who's doing ti right?

Kenneth socialFIEND Knapp
Founder EyeBalls, Inc.

What's so cool about 1,000 Followers on Twitter?!!!

2008-05-06T14:09:00.000-07:00

Today I received a tweet from a truly genius social media and technology tweaker, Nate Ritter. The guy can hack, crack and code with the best of them and he truly sees long tail applications to the technology spinning all around us.

Today Nate announced he is very close to topping 1,000 followers on Twitter. If you're ask what the heck is www.twitter.com check it out and setup and account.

For marketers Twitter is an application that allows you to quickly alert followers (friends, contacts or perfect strangers) of critical information, meeting spots, events, ideas, concepts or whatever ideas you can relate in 140 characters or less. Don't worry if you spill over (I do all the time) the system will create a tinyurl link to allow your friends to read the rest of your mission critical info online.

Some really cool things can be accomplished using Twitter such as tracking RSS feeds and alerting follower bases of information critical to their job, life or safety. Want to know how to change the world: http://twitter.com/makechange. Want to know when an earthquake strikes join: http://twitter.com/whatsshakin. Want CNET news: http://twitter.com/CNETNews.

These are simply a sample of real time alerts automatically publishing critical tweets to interested followers. But it gets better. Twitter is community. Think of it as a blog in your pocket but your readers can churp back ideas, inspiration, ideas or comments in near real time.

Ideas are more timely. Thoughts can shared to massive diverse social segments. Readers can know what's in your mind now, whether you have time for a phone call or email.

Communicate, share, get social TWITTER!

Take a look and if you really get crazy hit Nate up for some superior code support. The guy can build anything? http://twitter.com/nateritter.

Thanks Nate for making Twitter an info rich environment in more thna one way.

Enjoy!

Kenneth "socialFIEND" Knapp

The best application or project you have experienced using social media.

2008-04-14T16:35:00.000-07:00

Hey gang this is a shout out to my readers and visitors. Share some knowledge and improve social marketing for us all.

Think back and recall the best use of social media you have witnessed to date using social media likw twtitter, flickr, podcasting or other Web 2.0 solution you love.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about think about marketing in general. Try to remember a time or place when you received/downloaded an email, podcast, twitter, SMS or pop up that instantly made you change your behavior and act.

In Web 2.0 terms I am looking for a social media, a direct one-to-one dialogue or platform access point that allowed a marketer the opportunity to get in your ipod, face, in your mind or in your pocket and spit an idea in your ear and then like magic you jumped, clicked, visited and bought, read or voted simply because the idea moved you.

Here's one. Did your friend recently twitter you and let you know they were heading out for drinks or eats at a local hot spot. They mentioned the time and place and like clock work you and a handful of your faithful friends showed? That's one app of social media work, there has to be millions of others so let's get sharing and create the longest running dialogue concerning use of social media in marketing and relationship management.

Can you think of something??? If you can... Cool social media is among us. But if you have not been moved to action by a personal note, message, or prompting through a cool application like twitter, your phone or mobile device then perhaps we all need to be thinking of betters way to get in consumers pockets.

This is the reality of YouRelations as I call it. We get into people's lives and heads like never before. And we let others into our lives and heads like never before.

Happy sharing,

Kenneth "socialFIEND" Knapp
Found
socialFIEND.com & Eyeballs, Inc.

Do non-socialnetworking types Twitter???

2008-04-14T16:28:00.000-07:00

I've often wondered... do non-socialmedia types Twitter?

If you have an example of a non-social media Web 2.0 advocate using twitter please post a comment to this blog.

Your feedback is critical if we are to discover if others are among us. Or are we simply a bunch of techno freaks playing with gadgets we dream up in our sleep?

Just wondering out loud.

KK

How's this for niche?

2008-04-03T17:12:00.000-07:00

So I've been putting time, energy and thought into special events of late. Some professional time spent and creating launch events for my employer as well as personal time planning fundraisers for worthy causes in my local market.

I have found over many years in my career I have affinity for creating visions and taking action when a good idea is shared with me. I'm big on helping the greater good and focus attention on taking appropriate actions that support my desire to aid people in need and children especially. This is one of the reasons I donate my time to teach children Kung Fu San Soo. I love to teach and I want kids to be safe. Enough said.

I most recently created a social network and LinkedIn Group called SEVEJ - Special Events Junkies. It's a group created to help people develop large to small events together. The goal is to connect professionals who create, plan and develop special events for good causes or simply to support their local marketing/PR efforts. In the end all we do is alter opinions or change behavior in support of a goal why not share great ideas with like minded professionals? Thus SEVEJ was born.

I think SEVEJ is a perfect example of a well defined social network niche. Special events planning takes time, talent, passion and drive to pull off successfully. I am hopeful this niche SN will draw attention from worldwide professionals much like myself who have a passion for sales and marketing and have found they love to take action to create events around good ideas in support of larger goals.

This is an open invite to anyone who reads this post and wants to learn how or why marketing PR professionals use special events to support their causes. Join us!

http://sevejmembers.ning.com/ or http://www.sevej.com

Welcome!

Kenneth "socialFIEND" Knapp

One way to use social networking in sales

2008-02-22T11:53:00.000-08:00

I like to provide simple and effective methods to leveraging social media in my everyday work habits. I feel by showcasing one example it gives my readers a focused task to apply in their lives and see if it works for them. this is simple, effective social marketing.

So here's one way I gain fast account penetration while prospecting using a couple of my favorite tools.

I've spent over twelve years as a national and global accounts sales manager I and my team work to penetrate large commercial accounts in a short time frame. To that end churn happens, people change, projects and budgets come and go. So in this ever changing landscape a sales professional must have current actionable intelligence and contacts to derive interest for his/her product or service and close meaningful business.

When prospecting new accounts such as Fortune 500 accounts let's say. First I visit my LinkedIn rolodex to see who I know working in and around this account. My first goal is to find consultants and other enterprise sales professionals working around this account. You would be surprised what lunch or a cup of coffee will buy in the way of business intelligence (human engineering is as important as online networking). Also give first then ask for for advice on working the account. Always allow your contact to teach you what they would like to. A few guiding questions during this process will allow them to share their knowledge and flex their influence muscles a bit while you glean as much constructive information as you can. Be sure to listen and remember their guidance. If the consultant is close to the account they may be your only way through the front door, so get to know this professional as well as they will let you.

Next if enterprise reps and consultants cannot be found I go straight to the IT and C Level chain of command. You would be very surprised how relevant a snap shot you can glean from a few minutes spent searching your pervasive LinkedIn network.

NOTE: realizing of course the fewer level 1 contacts you have in LinkedIn the less powerful this strategy is as names will not be shown for contacts more than three levels away from you...so grow your network now! I also like to take a look at Hoovers.com for account 411 as well, note their competitors and contacts listed to compare with LinkedIn findings.

Sift through the contacts and titles until you have a strong understanding of C Level down structure. Create a list of these contacts in your contact management software and then pick up the phone and make a call. Focus on getting a meeting. Use the names on your list to circumvent the gatekeeper with ease and be ready to sell your meeting not your product. Don't waste their time and prepare well in advance to hit salient points to gain a meeting time and date with your important contact. And stand up while your on the phone with you contact, attitude is everything in sales and strong posture will evoke a stronger voice.

In addition once I know the names of my prospects I can then try to figure out email accounts to simultaneously catch their attention for a meeting. One sure fire way to get noticed is using a simple title on your email such as: "Meeting Request". Also keep your email to the point and very brief.

Here is an example of a message I have used quite effectively to land meetings with my prospects:

Dear Josephine:

I'd like to share some exciting news regarding *** Inc. They recently signed a $3,000,000 contract with my firm. This relationship saves *** Inc. $35,000 per month over their existing solution provider and offers redundancy and diversity in their WAN that never existed before.

Can we pencil a few minutes in the next week to review why *** Inc. selected my firm to manage their mission critical networking needs?

I look forward to your reply.

Best Regards,

KK

This little email gets better than a 60% response rate. Typical direct email campaigns only net less than 1%. Pretty good when you think about it.

So use LinkedIn to find professionals you wish to speak with. Know them, their company and their competitors. Then hit them with a meaningful dollarized message that has "VALUE" written all over it.

Go try it out and let me know what you think. There are over 100 ways to use LinkedIn. If you want to know more just check out this link. Thanks to Christian Gray in my LinkedIn network for sharing it with me. It's great stuff.

http://www.linkedintelligence.com/smart-ways-to-use-linkedin/

Happy Hunting.

Kenneth Knapp
"The socialFIEND"
949-294-0403

Social Engineering - What It Means to Me?

2007-08-08T14:12:00.001-07:00

Three trains of thought but how does it apply to social networking and online PR marketing tactics and intent of online PR/Marketing professionals and companies applying these methods in their marketing mix?

Wikipedia.org currently lists three main topical discussions under “social engineering” but I think there is a forth tack to this topic to explore and that is in regard to the use of social engineering to; influence prospects and publics to obtain beneficial outcomes for an entity, brand, person or company. The intent is not to harm or manipulate but to entice action or activity in regard to a particular idea, brand, event or objective.

So how does this new application of a bold one-to-one hacker tactic apply to the active and personal marketing world in a Web 2.0 sense? It’s valid in the sense that online PR and marketing is about “You”. It’s about communicating with individuals in their environment in a voice, context, method and platform they understand; with credibility (social equity) they believe and will listen to. In online PR/Marketing if you are not personal, informational, factual, non salesy, truthful and credible you are dead before you post your first blog, opt in email campaign, webinar, podcast, survey landing page, twitter, text ad, sweepstakes, or campaign.

So how is social engineering employed today… Here are a few bullet points or areas of applications:

Centralized Government Tactics

Laws, rules, policies, bylaws or guidelines for conduct
Incentives and disincentives
Political correctness which defines "acceptable" and "unacceptable" language or acts

Hacking Applications

trickery for information gathering or computer system access
Pretexting is the act of creating and using an invented scenario
Phishing applies to email appearing to come from a legitimate business
IVR/phone phishing
- uses a rogue Interactive voice response (IVR) system to recreate a legitimate sounding copy of a bank or other institution's IVR system
Trojan horse/gimmes
- Gimmes take advantage of curiosity or greed to deliver malware/Trojan horse (malicious software - viruses)
Road apple
- A road apple is a real-world variation of a Trojan Horse
Quid pro quo
- Something for something

Under the listing Social Engineering Psychology there is no article to date.

Online PR Marketing

Blogging – credible influence
- Bloggers own readership based on high credibility or strong social equity as I label it.
Web 2.0 PR Releases
- Public Relations press realeases released in a manner that appear more like Web 2.0 blogs or podcasts. Usually media rich and easily linked to or shared; comments allowed, RSS feeds included, opt in soft squeeze elements integrated to web release landing page etc…
Podcasts
- Podcasters have established networks of interested readers. Many of these professionals already establish trains of thoughts, opinions or beliefs surrounding products and services in their core expertise.
Embedded commentary
- Comment management can be a powerful influencing factor with other blogshere users and publics
Answers Junkies
- Answers is a general labeling of technology commonly found in Yahoo Answrs, LinkEd Answers etc.. The higher rating of an answer the more potential social equity that person holds over their network of influence
Uber User support
- Within all social communities there exist Uber Users much like Tom of MySpace fame. When Tom posts or comments people listen. There are hundreds or thousands of other niche focused uber users or hbs that exist within every social network. Locating recruiting and obtaining favor form these users is paramount in swaying opinion as needed for some niche marketers.
Embedded powers users – Employees working as users on a companies behalf.
- Within forums, blogs, social networks any person can maintain and own influential personas that interject, manage and diffuse issues within a given network of users. Higher ranking within the forum commonly denotes stronger potential social equity, buy-in and trust form others users. But these embedded professionals must deeply understand the content and context of discussion within the given board to build credibility and awareness over time.

These are simply a few tactical ideas surrounding social engineering and the means employed today to influence publics as it pertain to online PR/Marketing.

It’s important to note… The more you know about your public or niche the more precise and beneficial your overall tactics will work. A company must have access to reliable information regarding their customer base, potential users and publics prior to any endeavor. In the online world empirical analysis of known data is paramount and thankfully qualitative and quantitative review of such data is possible given open and available sources of such data sources. Diligent research, access to analytics, proper collection and review and access to proper tools must be present prior to any campaign for it to render meaningful results.

If your company seeks professional support, consulting help or simply needs a question answered we encourage you to submit a question or comment to socialFIEND [at] gmail.com. We may feature your question on our blog or use it as a future case study within our organization with your permission. Our team will respond promptly to your question.

To Your Success!

Kenneth “socialFIEND” Knapp
Founder
socialFIEND.com
“Your Online PR Marketing Mentor”

Close the Loop and Win!

2007-07-31T12:29:00.001-07:00

One of the latest old/new techniques being purported across the netisphere currently revolves around surveys.

Numerous emarketers are driving webinars relating to this hot topic.

This current drive brings up an old school methodology from Public Relations that is quite relevant and needed in all marketing endeavors and that is "feedback."

Mike Long of Magic fame is presently launching his Area51 marketing group. All of which offers throughout a steady availability of feedback screens as you access and view his many informative videos relating to emarketing tactics and business building strategies.

Mike has emphasized the relevance of his consumers feedback in the creation and deployment of future endeavors. User feedback gives Mike and others like him a real time view of user opinion and desires. It enables his group to drive products and services that are currently relevant to his primary customer base. It also enables him to develop new future project concepts based on questions or responses he receives.

One of the keys to his strategy is that he and his company actually monitor real time these questions and feedback posts. Why? Because they are the clearest view of the mind of your most critical asset; your customer.

I applaud Mike's use and dedication to this strategy and know this critical feedback loop is pivotal in his long term business development.

So why would a company launching an online social campaign care about what their users are saying? As I stated above without listening to your customers you lose out on important relevant topics, ideas, planning and business development opportunities.

A tertiary use of these comments and questions may also define a more rabid user group within your greater mass database. consumers who identify with a specific brand are far more likely to take time to share, question and dialogue with companies they feel passionately about. These may become your greatest advocates and best fiscal supporters if you listen, react, communicate and answer.

Close the loop to stay in touch and build a broader connection to your greatest supporters and customers.

Here's To Your Success!

Kenneth "socialFIEND" Knapp

CEO, socialFIEND.com

How to Build Rapport But Avoid Becoming a WII FM Bore, “What’s in it for me radio all me all the time.”

2007-07-05T11:59:00.000-07:00

Hi, Nick Cutter with Sharper Knives and Shears. You bust’em or rust’em we bring back the edge with pleasure. Sounds corny yes… You probably haven’t heard a pitch like this come out of a network contact at a chamber event but you have heard some doozeys over the years.

Many marketers will attempt one of two tactics while networking:

1.Present their pitch, exchange cards and move on for future follow up
2.Open conversation in an attempt to get you talking about you to make you feel like they care and are a good listener... This is an attempt to build trust.

But there is another way to build rapport without making others feel like you are being fake or too pushy in your efforts to build your referral database.

I’d like to offer an approach with a different tact that might simply fit a normal mode of conversational style we are all accustom to.

How many times have you sat on a plain, train, bus or subway and opened a conversation with someone sitting immediately next to you? We do it all the time. You know the moment that uncomfortable silence falls on a situation where you are very close to another human being almost sharing your comfort zone buffer and then it happens Out pops a question or comment. It’s really an invitation to dialogue. That allows the receiver to accept or deny.

Wow could this train take any longer to load? I guess I’ll be in the office fifteen minutes late as usual then they respond: Ya it’s like this all the time. You’d think the city would figure a way to get us to work on time for once. BAM! You’ve done it. You just broke the ice and have opened a mutually beneficial conversation with an unknown contact. You are networking! You have also built a sense of trust given their response, you both think the trains in your city have a scheduling and management problem and it bugs you. Rapport is building in just one exchange; you found out you are similar in at least one way, and you have a common problem.

So how does this relate to networking? Good question. When we network we seek like minded individuals who may improve or enhance our professional lives in some way. Perhaps we need referral partners to build revenue-generating business, or we need solution providers to enhance our pool of resources to your customer base. Whatever the case might be we need an active database of professionals who if given the chance would think of us, assist us on a mutually beneficial project and perhaps use our product or service if the need arises.

Basically we are looking for people we find interesting and like to talk. Overtime that like and enjoyment of corresponding may end up in a business relationship. We are looking ultimately to invest ourselves in others for our mutual long-term benefit.

So why do most networking groups teach their members to create a standard pitch? First I think the pitch is good if presented in the right way as a group introduction at event to allow listeners to label you as a certain type of professional or when used only to answer a question. And not used to open a dialogue with total strangers.

RULE #1: Don’t maintain a WII FM mentality. It’s a fact human nature tends to put our needs above the needs of others. And some truly focus on the ONE way too much. Generally those types of professionals are easy to spot. Don’t be one of them.

RULE #2: Give, Ask, Receive. So what is Give, Ask, Receive. Here’s how it breaks down (this is greatly over simplified):

GIVE a compliment or note something special about the new contact

ASK them an appropriate question that leads them into an open honest dialogue

RECEIVE usable information to build a trust building dialogue that leads to a business card or information exchange that has merit, trust and meaning.

Think about your natural behavior in public. Have you ever stood in line, waited for a plain for more than an hour with a group of other people? What happens? Over time you naturally lower your guard and seek out human contact. Over the course of minutes or hours a relationship develops that makes you feel at ease and more comfortable with your surroundings. You get a laugh, ease some tension and pass sometime. You build rapport.

This is a prime example of human nature and our desire to connect with the people and world around us. We want to share in this ride we call life.

So instead of shoving a boring 30-second pitch down someone’s throat employ a Give, Ask, Receive tactic in your interactions and watch your referral database grow.

In pursuit of happiness,

Kenneth Knapp
Founder/CEO
socialFIEND.com

Social Communities are our personal declarations of independence!

2007-07-03T00:07:00.000-07:00

“Give me liberty or give me death exclaimed,” Patrick Henry in the presence of our country’s for fathers Thomas Jefferson and George Washington March 23, 1775, at St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia. Is it coincidence the social networking site Freindster.com founder, Jonathan Abrams also launched his social liberation brain child in March 2002 some 227 years after Patrick Henry’s historical call to arms?

There was a time in human history before 2002 when global media conglomerates spoon fed audiences programming and advertising straight into their living rooms. Not knowing better American’s gobbled up these visions of dreamy existence, perfect lives, shiny cars, and magical products.

Over time however the status quo tired of being told what to wear, to listen to and what to think.

Then came a new dawn, an era of interconnected intelligence and data; an intricate network of human consciousness; of free unbridled information. Over time these interconnected masses of stored knowledge were made accessible to billions worldwide. Friendster.com sent the call to arms against mass media and content control. The era of consumer generated media and content development was born!

The “information age” was born again after 2002 and human beings began claiming their stakes in a world where they would now dictate for themselves what was relevant, powerful, persuasive, interesting and meaningful.

But why is this need for individuality so strong in our nature. Why must we seek to be free, liberated, respected beings with purpose and creative agency to express ourselves?

Les Giblin once wrote…
“Whatever name you want to give it – “human dignity,” “personality,” or what-not—there is something deep in the heart of every man and woman that is important and demands respect. Every human being is a unique, individual personality, and the most powerful drive in any person is to maintain this individuality, to defend this important something against all enemies.

This is why you cannot treat people as machines, as numbers on a register, or as “masses,” and get by with it. Every effort that has been made to deprive human beings of this individual worth has failed. It is more powerful than armies and prison camps. It proved more powerful than the feudal lords who tried to turn people into serfs. It proved more powerful than Hitler’s armies. And it set the stage for our own “land of the free”; for the Declaration of Independence, if you read if carefully, is really a declaration of independence for the individual. It derives its power not because it sets out certain rights for a certain group of men, but from the fact that it proclaims certain inalienable rights for ‘all men.’”

Today we experience Friendster, FaceBook, LinkedIn, MySpace, YouTube, Second Life and hundreds of other ever proliferating niche social communities where community members are sharing,, chatting, blogging, linking, nudging, poking, thinking, growing the network by adding their personal perspective to every post, online relationship, image, video, article, story, twitter and flake. Social communities are independent and dynamic and so are the residual relationships that develop as interaction in these networks grows.

We sit today at the precipice of a new realization… The call to arms has sounded and you are beckoned to heed the call to join the revolution. Social communities give everyone the right to share their voice, their vision and their influence on what interconnected communications and technologies will be over time.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Welcome to liberation! Enjoy your pursuit of happiness today!

Kenneth Knapp
Founder/CEO
SocialFIEND.com

Community Managers in the New World Order

2007-06-29T11:41:00.000-07:00

This week’s online marketing minute is dedicated to the creation of a new role within PR/Marketing companies and within organizations with an eye on the future of online PR management. It is the role of community managers as front line defenders of brand and awareness within segmented groups of consumers and constituents. They are the troops who maintain “ground truth” as they say in wartime. They know and understand who is saying what in online forums, chat, blogs and social communities and further they know how to approach these individuals to get to root cause of dissent and can skillfully manage amicable resolutions to issues and concerns of the brand within these influential market segments. They are front line defenders of your company’s social equity.

Brian Solis, was recently quoted as saying, “Engage or Die” in his Manifesto for Integrating Social Media into Marketing.

In order to properly monitor, quantify and manage ongoing brand management an organization now must choose to engage and embrace social media or suffer it’s wrath.

There is ever increasing dialogue created by consumers who are adept in social media, connected via numerous social communities and forums, manage varying degrees of influence (what I term Social Equity) in diverse market segments and have plenty to say about companies and products they love or love to hate.

This is where a relevant solution comes into play I’ve termed it YouRelations. And it speaks directly to what other Online PR professionals have tagged as the dialogue and management of social communities and influencers within them.

The future of community managers and the evolution of YouRelations is wide opened and we stand on the precipice to our collective future. The truth all companies must face is communities are out there; their influence and communication power is pervasive. Now is the time to engage or die by the way side as evolution takes form and communications management takes on a new reality.

You must ask yourself, am I prepared or am I leaving this up to others to define the future of my brand and organization?

Stay tuned for a call for Community Managers across the globe by socialFIEND. Keep an eye on our YouTube channel for details.

Kenneth Knapp
Founder/CEO
socialFIEND

“Social Equity” a New Definition

2007-06-28T19:58:00.001-07:00

Eureka!

Over the past couple of years I’ve been thinking a lot about a term that has complete relevance in the social community and online PR space. The term is “Social Equity” a phrase I have coined to express what people mean to people they interact with. In sociological terms social equity may bring to mind a groups struggle to gain racial equality or access to shared public resources. But in the context of social community, networking and online PR “Social Equity” as I define it is one person or brands value and relevance as perceived by a public internal/external, group, person or community. Think of equity as value and social is the community segment you influence or impact with your thoughts, actions, and marketing tactics. The stronger your sway on your public the greater your social equity in that public.

Think of a networking group you belong to. If you are good at what you do and people trust your opinion you may be thought of as the opinion leader in real estate, investment or legal matters. You are the guy or gal in the know. You have strong social equity in your sphere of influence when it pertains to particular subject matter. You are relevant.

The more social equity you possess the greater your influence potentially over a given person, public or audience. I enjoy Aristotle’s definition of ethos which brings clarity to the idea of social equity through his use of the term in his work Rhetoric which is an ancient Greek treatise on the art of persuasion. “Ethos is one of the three artistic proofs (pistis) modes of persuasion (other principles being logos and pathos) discussed by Aristotle in 'Rhetoric' as a component of argument. At first speakers must establish ethos. On the one hand, this can mean merely "moral competence", but Aristotle broadens this word to encompass expertise and knowledge. He expressedly remarks that ethos should be achieved only by what the speaker says, not by what people think of his character before he begins to speak.” wikipedia.org

In the world of online community most of what we know about an author is what we read, hear and see of them online. We may or may not have an indication of their real world character, beliefs, morals etc… We are left to judge the value or relevance one person has over our thoughts and ideas simply based on the words they use to articulate an argument or belief about a given topic.

I am a Social Equity Coach to my clients who seek to influence their publics and enhance their brand or personal identity online through interconnected media and social community platforms. We teach methods of influence, persuasion, PR and general marketing to small and medium sized businesses.

Give some thought to your current social equity status. How much do people invest in your opinions and thoughts. Would you like to be more relevant to your customers, peers, prospects? Stick around and we will share some insightful ideas and bring some opinion leaders in this space to share their thoughts with you overtime.

Stay tuned for more great information from socialFIEND, Your Online PR/Marketing Mentor. Don’t forget to keep an eye on our YouTube channel for new Marketing Minutes. Our weekly online PR and marketing tip. You never know what you might learn.

Happy Selling!

Kenneth Knapp
Founder, CEO
socialFIEND

Size MATTERS! and SMALLER is BIGGER Than You Think!

2007-06-28T19:11:00.000-07:00

This little fact may surprise a lot of you reading this blog. Recently Yahoo posted the following fact: "Though they may never be mentioned by name on CNBC, small businesses have a huge impact. In fact, according to the Small Business Administration, a U.S. government agency, small businesses were responsible for more than half of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) of $11,712,500,000,000 in 2004."

That means small business in america constitutes $5,856,250,000,000 over 5 TRILLION dollars of our nations domestic product. Our world is small business and you are all making a contribution.

"So what defines a small business you might ask? Any business with less than 100 employees generally is considered a small business by US standards." wikipedia.org

I am happy to be focused on getting the small business owners in America a leg up in the world of online PR and marketing.

Stay tuned for more helpful videos, articles and tips form your truly.

Best Regards,

Kenneth Knapp
Founder/CEO
socialFIEND

Search Illustrated: The Power Of Link Baiting

2007-06-28T18:54:00.000-07:00

Here's a great story on link baiting. The art of attraction is what I like to call it. I love the idea of creating relevant content that drives more traffic to your site. Most online marketing affiliate partnered gurus use this tactic to drive tons of list building traffic to their various properties.

Search Illustrated: The Power Of Link Baiting

I love this graphic:

Graphic by Elliance, an eMarketing firm specializing in results-driven search engine marketing, web site design, and outbound eMarketing campaigns. The firm is the creator of the ennect online marketing toolkit. The Search Illustrated column appears Tuesdays at Search Engine Land.

It's a WAR and brands must engage and defend their stake to stay ahead.

2007-06-28T18:00:00.001-07:00

Current articles regarding social community and online PR spheres are suggesting a very strong need for prudent brand management within social communities and online forums. And the poor execution of it or complete lack thereof can be detrimental to a company’s image.

Katy Howell, managing director of Immediate Future, said: "Social media and consumer participation are growing at lightening speed. Conversations about brands are unfiltered, unchecked and outside the control of marketers.

"Brands are being discussed, applauded and criticized across the web. It is time for companies to pay attention to the online conversations and look at strategies to get involved with their audiences."

Social media is frequently driving news agendas, affecting

“Trying to manage your company’s image and reputation online and communicating with your publics can be a challenging task,” said Weinkrantz. “The old days of just listening to and responding to what trade and business journalists are saying about you online are long gone. And while this age of social media and the prosumer generation makes your job a lot more challenging, it also gives you the opportunity to make a much broader impact. The key is having the right message, the right strategies, and becoming part of the conversation.”

The world of the prosumer has evolved to the point where the consumer now supports and controls much of what some brands represent and mean to online community participants. Think of it this way, it's been taught to me that if one customer you deal with is unsatisfied with your service or company at least 250 people will hear about it. Now I'm sure this old adage was created many years before the promise of the Internet was realized, which leads me to believe the reality of one upset customer telling 250 friends has now multiplied many times over in this day of interconnected unencumbered dialogues.

So what is a company to do if issues occur and online buzz turn negative or even hostile? Most articles and posts I have seen focus on brands becoming involved on a personal level with their consumers on territory familiar to bloggers, social community members and forum junkies. The company needs to further it's transparency and get engaged one-to-one with their most irritated and often times supportive fans.

As I worked my way up through sales/PR ranks in technology firms it seemed the engineers within all or most of the companies I worked for got it. They realized very quickly to keep a product selling strong you need to manage and communicate with your core user base on their turf not yours. At one of the first firms I worked for ZyXEL North America, I knew we hosted our own forums for various test groups and power users worldwide. But we also had multiple task manager engineers focused heavily on various boards dealing with issues, questions, and negative opinions as they developed in real time not well after the fact.

I think the tech sector has long known you have to stay close to the people that know how to tear you apart the quickest, what's the quote... "keep your friends close and your enemies closer." ;-)

I think now that social community and blogs have taken significant attention away from mass media channels, mainstream brands which may be otherwise non-technical in nature are faced with the reality; there is a war of opinion raging everyday and it's being hammered out on keyboards worldwide.

It's time for business to become more like your client base and get down and dirty in our favorite spaces and places.

Enjoy!

Kenneth Knapp
Founder/CEO
socialFIEND

You don't get much more niche than this. YeeHaw!

2007-06-27T12:40:00.000-07:00

A recent story shows just how powerful and popular niches can be when you get it right. The dream of a lonely cowboy finding love beats within the heart of an Ohio man.

Jerry Miller, the founder of FarmersOnly.com slogan: “City folks just don't get it!” focused on core values of farmer’s through his ad agency work. Jerry used his contacts and focused issues core to some farmer’s he had met to create a unique dating community for farmer’s only. His site now boasts a membership of 64,000 and growing. You might say 64,000 members is tiny compared to the millions that frequent MySpace and YouTube but you’d be missing the power of niche marketing here.

The hardest thing to predict for massive brands is who they are talking to with a given add campaign. They know what they are saying, they know how they want to say it but they can’t always predict exactly how the public will perceive the message, unless they know the public well.

In this instance Jerry has created a very focused and targeted market for would be marketers. Every product manufacturer under the sun would love to have their client base sorted into neat little target lists like the one Jerry has created. Which would ultimately allow them to focus very targeted pitches to very receptive audiences for optimal conversions (prospect contact = sale). You can think of it as shooting fish in a barrel. If brands you love and want badly know how and where to find you all they have to do is offer something compelling to you and WHAM, they have your sale.

Niche’s like FarmersOnly.com are leading the trend of what the internet and social communities will be in the coming decade.

There will always be the noisy, cluttered and unsorted world of MySpace, YouTube and the like but with these razor focused niche sites at work advertisers will always have ripe soil to grow and nurture their latest campaigns to eager consumers.

Great story.

Kenneth Knapp
Founder, CEO
socialFIEND

Positioning – what a concept

2007-06-27T09:25:00.000-07:00

When your market becomes saturated and numerous companies jump into the fray of your financial existence you need to make a change. One excellent train of thought is repositioning your product, service or company to become more meaningful and memorable to your consumers and the general public.

Today Plaxo announced their repositioning: “Plaxo Reinvents Itself as ‘Switzerland of Personal Information’”. I’ve been a long time Plaxo user for many reasons but most notably because my Outlook address book is updated daily without me making a key stroke. Their magic solution tracks all of my clients and ties directly into their Outlook to let me know seamlessly anytime they change title, email, address or phone, it even tells me when someone has a birthday coming up so I can send them a card or gift. It’s a perfect fit for a tech sector entrepreneur like me. Many of my colleagues and friends migrate from project to project and overtime their business information may change.

To solidify what I already knew Plaxo developed their new positioning statement “Switzerland of Personal Information”. Plaxo is truly a neutral third party that keeps your info in check and up to date.

So if you feel your market is saturated and your company looks and sounds a lot like others businesses competing for your customer’s attention think reposition to win.

So how do you create a positing statement?

Unlike a tagline or slogan, which is externally focused, a positioning statement is more internally focused on vendors, employees and the like. This gives everyone who is knowledgeable in your product clarity and focus as well as brand extension to the organization. In the Plaxo example yesterday I would tell friends I invite to join me in Plaxo this system will keep your contact data up to date and remind when your birthday comes up. Today I would simply say they are “Switzerland of Personal Information”. You can keep everything neutral and safe while sharing it with your trusted family, colleagues and friends.

More to come soon. We can spend lots of time talking positioning.

Happy Selling!

Kenneth Knapp
Founder, CEO
socialFIEND

Change = Productivity... It's Human Nature

2007-06-27T08:40:00.000-07:00

In a recent podcast I heard an interesting application of the Hawthorne effect mentioned. "The Hawthorne effect refers to a phenomenon which is thought to occur when people observed during a research study temporarily change their behavior or performance (this can also be referred to as demand characteristics). Others have broadened the definition to mean that people’s behavior and performance change following any new or increased attention. The Hawthorne studies have had a dramatic effect on management in organizations and how people react to different situations." wikipeida.org

I have experienced this effect weekly in my martial arts classes. I teach a children’s class twice per week in the evening and I have always known if you focus on each child, call them out by name and give them praise for a good kick, solid lesson execution or form exercise they will focus more intently in class and remain more engaged in their learning.

The podcaster mentioned the Hawthorne effect as it relates to online marketing. When an online marketer changes something an offer (price discount), contest, questionnaire, survey, free seminar anything offered creates new activity and increased productivity from even the slowest producing list of prospects.

His overall opinion was no matter what you do or say you will see an increase in your bottom line guaranteed. And the opposite is also true. Do nothing and nothing will happen.

What this tells me is if you remain silent you are ensured of low or no activity. If you instead to decide to "get loud" your activity will increase simply due to the fact you are making an offer or creating interest or desire in your potential consumers that wasn’t their before, you changed something.

It's human nature. If you read the material on the Hawthorne effect you will note in the original Hawthorne experiments simple things like lighting could be changed and no matter what change had occurred it always resulted in increased productivity by the workers involved in the test.

So if your boss walks in with a dozen donuts on Friday you may ask yourself is this his generous side giving us all kudos for a job well done or is he simply testing the Hawthorne effect on us? That’s for you to decide.

To Your Success,

Kenneth Knapp
Founder, CEO
socialFIEND

Niche is nice.

2007-06-27T07:54:00.000-07:00

Today Mashable featured an article Konnects Launches Network of Communities for Business Professionals, oh ya I've heard of this site it's called LinkedIn. ;-)

The article is great at exploring the features and issues facing the good folks at Konnects with their newest entry into business social networking communities. What they didn't question was why???

The world is filling up with neat ideas and cool me too approaches. I'm wondering why programmers and marketers alike don't start focusing their attention specifically on niche solutions now?

After all how many social communities can one person realistically monitor? Human nature tells us we can focus on one topic or idea at a time effectively. So why do feel the need to maintain and monitor a Flickr, MySpace, YouTube, LinkedIn and whatever.com accounts? Are they necessary? Are they all relevant or simply bookmarks that tell the world, I’m here too, I belong, I’m in.

In my day-to-day reality I see LinkedIn as my most viable social community tool for now. Along with my various blogs.

So again I wonder... How many new me too social networks will we see in the coming years? I'd like to be the poster child for the promotion of niche social community development exclusively. It’s what we focus on everyday at Omnifuse (where I work today – a social community platform development company in Newport Beach, CA). And it’s how I build my business socialFIEND (a online PR and Marketing firm).

Yes social communities create a locked in feature rich content focused environment where members decide the destiny of the network. So let's focus our minds and brains on applying this wonderful technology to verticals or niches that could utilize them to their fullest potential.

Why don't I see an online poker community out there yet? Or a Coca Cola collectors community, A Disney pin collector community, A hockey, baseball or sports memorabilia community? There is an infinite number of ideas that spin readily off your head if you think about it. I want a Green Bay Packer’s fan social community.

The next biggest question to everyone is can you monetize this concept or is it simply neat? Well YouTube was quite simply neat and they seemed to do alright with their acquisition (Google To Acquire YouTube for $1.65 Billion in Stock). Not bad for a knock off America’s Funniest Home Videos play with an amateurs edge.

Maybe it’s just me but I’d like to see focus to all of this dot-com-all-over-again buzz. Let’s leverage this technology and find new paths to prosperity, integration and relevance for the social community development market.

Best Regards,

Kenneth Knapp
Founder, CEO
socialFIEND

Why is this blog relevant?

2007-06-26T12:54:00.000-07:00

Professionally I have worked in and around internet related corporations and start ups for more than twelve years. I have observed from an inside-out perspective new technology deployment and adoptions. I have previewed new ideas and solutions well before launch and today work directly with a social community platform development company in Southern California.

I have been directly involved with the creation of companies from software development firms: Digital Forest, tds in 1995 to currently launching a social community platform company, online PR/marketing solutions provider. I love the act of creation, planning, execution and adoption. I have spent most of my professional career driving sales for developing/new technologies for numerous corporations and large Fortune 100 companies.

I fancy myself an educator as well. I drove product adoption for ZyXEL North America 1994 when they introduced some of the first ISDN (broadband internet access technologies) to market. I also drove training and adoption of MCI's VoIP solutions, VPN, DSL, WAN Ethernet products, managed hosting, collocation facilities prior to and during the dot com boom. I drove sales for remote storage solutions brought to market by ManagedStorage (now Incentra Solutions), which was a remote back up and recovery play over public networks.

I love to seek out the latest and greatest. I live for innovation and great ideas.

These are some of the reasons why I love to explore, learn, share and understand new technology and how it relates to my life, my profession and me.

I look forward to sharing thoughts from benign to far fetched with you via this blog. I hope you enjoy something I have to say share with you.

I'll keep posting be sure to grab my feed and stay in touch. You never what idea will strike me next or what story I will share from my diverse exposure into developing niche social communities at large.

Oh ya stay tuned for news on my brain child: socialFIEND as well. You will hear more soon I'm sure.

Best Regards,

Kenneth Knapp
CEO/Founder
socialFIEND

Welcome to socialFIEND

2007-06-26T11:31:00.000-07:00

The Social Networker is "socialFIEND(TM)". Social communities have spawned a new layer of online intelligence and interactivity. Some venture far and wide to connect, communicate and control content and relationships across the internet. The uber users and hubs of significant networks are social fiends, those who simply can't get enough of networking in social communities.

socialFiend is the trademark of Kenneth Knapp All rights reserved.

Get rich in a niche!

2007-06-26T08:33:00.000-07:00

Today's chatter focuses heavily on the evolution of niche markets within social communities. This reality of social community evolution is evident by the daily creation of more tightly focused communities catering to increasingly diverse mix of demographic strata.

The network and large content producers determine less and less what information is important. You and I determine more and more each day what is relevant, what is news worthy and what is important to us.

You are the network and everyone in your sphere of influence can and will be impacted by what and who you are online.

Today I can login into to anyone of my social network accounts, search and locate friends, business associates, jobs, mentors and facts. I can find anything I wish and almost instantly become connected to a new resource or people of significance to my personal and professional life with little time or effort.

What have social networks done thus far? Shared 77,000 new ridiculous videos with millions of viewers daily? Poked countless millions of college students around the world? Created a euphoric "Star" mentality among our youth culture today? Yes it has but it has also broken down barriers, opened communications paths, increased the breadth and depth of personal online social dynamics, hopefully in a positive way. And increased what I’d like to redefine as “Social Equity” for millions of users (more on that in future posts).

Pretty much every social community member who is active online knows more people today than three years ago because of Friendster, LinkedIn, OpenBC, Myspace, YouTube and Facebook.

Increasingly people of similar backgrounds are gravitating to exclusive, invite only, professionally focused social networks developed by brands, organizations or associations catering to them.

So why would an organization care to develop a social network of their own? How is it meaningful monetarily?

In my daily business development and creative campaign management activities I have heard and scene many intriguing ideas surrounding social community development. The creative fervor at times resembles the late 90’s. Ideas abound, investment dollars are flowing and would be netprenuers are driving their dreams to market.

As an example of why an organization would create a social network we can review a hypothetical situation… Let’s say you are a global marketing firm. You have a large stable of brands/clients who all have products and services to sell. You have an idea; wouldn’t it be cool to offer our clients a secure place where they could spit ball ideas about cross promotion and joint ventures and perhaps meet other brands/teams looking to do the same around the world? Further, we could ask questions of them, take surveys and drive our new business ideas through this new platform while nurturing their creative plans and projects. The residual effect could be; new PR/Marketing projects for us, new business relationships, larger media buys, acquisitions, new product development, new marketing strategy development, stronger brand awareness through all active client companies, better feedback from publics internal and external, quicker reaction times to critical needs of client base, proactive solution development to evolving issues (nip it in the bud).

By launching an internal social community the marketing firm now has a managed platform to launch new ideas, introduce various account teams that may be dispersed over a very wide geography and create synergistic projects and relationships throughout client base and employee base.

The ideas for niche social communities abound, another great example is http://www.carcrazycentral.com/. This website was developed for two basic premises support and extend Maguiar’s brand (car wax company) and concentrate wrench head activity online in an open shared forum that can grow and develop freely through member contributions. Early on many individuals stated grey haired car guys would never migrate off their existing forums and onto a MySpace like social network. Boy were they wrong. CarCrazyCentral.com has grown exponentially as one of the favorite stops for car lovers and car owners a like. And it’s been a staple brand driver for Maquiar’s car Wax and showcases some of the featured events the car crazy community crave.

Within 2007 thousands of social communities will come online. And in an every increasing fashion much like the explosive growth of web sites in the early 90’s everything from knitting circles to professional offline networking organizations like the one I founded, Local Business Pros (www.mylbp.com) via Ning (http://yourlbp.ning.com) will find their way to social community platforms that offer free service and asset management in exchange for ad displays. While larger entities will opt to purchase an enterprise license or hosted license arrangements like those provided by Omnifuse (http://www.Omnifuse.com) and their FUSION 3.0 platform.

The final question for all organizations seeking to develop a social community strategy is simply: how do we monetize this new technology and is it meaningful to our publics (internal, external); more on that later as well.

Best Regards,

Kenneth Knapp
Founder Social Fiend

Let's start with the end in mind.

2007-06-26T06:57:00.000-07:00

The mission of this blog is to: "To explore, expound and discuss the relevance and significance of social communities and social networking online in business and personal applications, to further define terms, relevance, applications, analytics, ubiquitous communications and uses of ever present information/data in today’s evolving online world." And of course it’s my soapbox to launch into rants relating to my personal social behaviors and undertakings at large in professional and personal context.

With that said I welcome any and all input or critique so long as it's constructive or informative in nature. I am here to share and learn as much as I can in this life. I appreciate and welcome your participation and interactivity.

Best Regards,

Kenneth Knapp
Social Fiend Founder, CEO

socialFIEND - Social Media & Marketing Ideas!

Props to Chris Abrham and team for a great Twitter How To for PR and Marketing!

Referral Marketing to Build a Huge Twitter Following, But Why!???

Easy Video Producer is an awesome product! And best of all it's FREE!

Easy Video Producer is an awesome product! And best of all it's FREE!

Let's talk viral marketing - Building lists through video works!

Can Twitter, Facebook, Blogger and MySpace net results on your bottom line!?

Time is precious, don't waste it.

Corny yes, but viral just the same. I love it. Me for President!!!

Your Future is NOW!

LifeChangingBox - Great application of social media and contest!

Interesting concept - Let's test it to see if it works.

Twitter! In Plain English What a Video!

Niche Wiki!?

What's so cool about 1,000 Followers on Twitter?!!!

The best application or project you have experienced using social media.

Do non-socialnetworking types Twitter???

How's this for niche?

One way to use social networking in sales

Social Engineering - What It Means to Me?

Centralized Government Tactics

Hacking Applications

Online PR Marketing

Close the Loop and Win!

How to Build Rapport But Avoid Becoming a WII FM Bore, “What’s in it for me radio all me all the time.”

Social Communities are our personal declarations of independence!

Community Managers in the New World Order

“Social Equity” a New Definition

Size MATTERS! and SMALLER is BIGGER Than You Think!

Search Illustrated: The Power Of Link Baiting

It's a WAR and brands must engage and defend their stake to stay ahead.

You don't get much more niche than this. YeeHaw!

Positioning – what a concept

Change = Productivity... It's Human Nature

Niche is nice.

Why is this blog relevant?

Welcome to socialFIEND

Get rich in a niche!

Tag Clouds for any blog made easy

Let's start with the end in mind.