Comments on: Beyond the Smoke, Hype and Fanfare – What is Social Media?..really

By: Monique Cloutier's Blog on Social Relationship Marketing and Business Optimization

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 21:08:08 +0000

[...] Posted with permission from Philip R. Dunn… Beyond the Smoke, Hype and Fanfare – What is Social Media?..really [...]

By: phildunn

phildunn — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:08:13 +0000

True – and re the friend analogy (which is really what's going on!) – I see
a lot of this “here's my free report” stuff going on. This is just like the
kid who tries to get friends by offering candy bars. It's much better to
*think* about something that someone said (or some topic they pay attention
to) and then address it with them in mind. Like commenting on a post .

By: tonybordonaro

tonybordonaro — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:25:04 +0000

Phil I agree…good article
sometimes…
Its harder to do… but its sort of like being a friend… and making friends …you have to have something to offer ..and yes,.guess it has to go both ways…

By: How to Simplify your Social Media Life: The Pros and Cons of Posterous, Soup.io, ShareIn and FriendFeed

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:31:41 +0000

[...] What compels advertising and marketing types to rip off the Live Strong brand? Beyond the Smoke, Hype and Fanfare – What is Social Media?..really Sep [...]

By: phildunn

phildunn — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 22:07:54 +0000

From an extended discussion with my sister: I had fun creating that post - way too long, but I couldn't resist. I'm always surprised at the amount of stress I encounter when talking to people about these "connector" tools. It's the same with cell phones, too. So many different ways people use them, habits, etc. My theory is that it's not really about the tools.. it's just anxiety about protecting privacy, socializing, "selling", communicating for business,etc.

From what I can tell, the best, most successful business people are *really* outgoing. They connect with a variety of tools, offer their expertise, answer questions, share their experience and so forth.

The tools are getting easier to use. The network effect - or exponential/viral deal is what separates a tweet or FB deal from a phone call.

Project management/collaboration tools (like Basecamp stuff) is another can of worms. I should do a follow up post on those.

By: phildunn

phildunn — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 22:06:48 +0000

And Gladwell is the perfect example of one of the hub people in the book world. He may not be a household name, but he matters bigtime to the people in his sphere.

There is a bit of strangeness with regard to this larger social reality.

The connecting effects do a good job of getting the right people together. That interests me.

By: Yael Davidowitz-Neu

Yael Davidowitz-Neu — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 22:45:31 +0000

Great post – the section on 'who will go to bat for you' reminds me of Malcolm Gladwell's descriptions of connectors, mavens, influentials, etc. in the social graph – which speaks to your point of social networks essentially serving as an exponentially larger version of what we've previously identified as our social reality.

By: phildunn

phildunn — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 22:35:59 +0000

Long indeed. Thanks for hanging in. Re: “selling something”… This is a big issue that I come across with my small biz clients. Often, they don't want to be “selling”… Seems like a lack of confidence in the product or service. Or the person. “Call it something else,” I say. “Helping people, solving problems… anything.. just get out there and make it happen, and get over this 'selling' aversion.”

Is 200liteyears a green day ref? I used to love that song… back in college days.

By: JD

JD — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 22:21:10 +0000

Good article, a little long but enjoyable. I totally agree that its all about content having content that will help people. No one wants a sales pitch in their face, or mobilephone. If the content is good, they will come. Of course it helps to have a website and be selling something too, LOL.