» Social Media

HFTP gets acquainted with social media.

Clay Loges — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 20:58:11 +0000

Recently we were invited to introduce Social Media and WOM10 (Word of Mouth on Steroids) to the HFTP association. To the left is Marney Zeller who took the initiative to invite us to speak.

We’ve had the opportunity to work get acquainted with Marney as we’ve shared a couple of restaurant clients with her. And we social media evangelists always appreciate the thought-leaders who step out ahead of the crowd and closely examine the shifts going on in the business world.

HFTP is the Hospitality, Finance, and Technical Professionals. These are people who work in and around the hospitality industry. Anyone who has attended a hospitality industry meeting can appreciate that the hosting members go all out in the food served and service of the food.

So we leaped at the opportunity to speak to the dinner meeting for HFTP. And we were rewarded with a tasty dinner and superb service. Our hosts — The Convention Center — were well represented by the service staff. Our bartender was Richard, and when next you encounter him, enjoy the good service along with a nice mix on the drinks. Richard manned the bar throughout the evening, and he allowed no glass to suffer a drought.

Our table service was supervised by Stanya. She was polished in the presentation of the food, and she was discreet in the clearing of the tables. A “shout out” to two people who made the evening a great experience.

For my part, I enjoyed the opportunity to make our presentation — the crowd was attentive and interactive with questions. We covered the decline of traditional media and then examined the reasons that social media is pushing the old model.

But most importantly, we addressed that the very nature of the hospitality industry and the type of people who populate it fit well when matched with the leading characteristics of social media. Hospitality is all about people , the experience, and the stories that surround both. Social media thrives on personalization, authenticity, and engaging stories. The hospitality industry is a very rich pool of potential content that could be shared through the new internet tools offered by social media.

Thanks for Marney for inviting us to speak, thanks to the Convention Center for hosting the event, and thanks to Richard and Stanya for their professional presence.

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Some “get it”, some don’t – yet

Blaine Millet — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:10:47 +0000

Today was a fairly typical day in the “Social Media Business World” – some executives who “get it” and some who don’t.

Most of my interactions seem to sort out whether someone is going to be an “early adopter” and take a “wait and see” attitude about this Revolution called Social Media. Talking to different people and realizing how people can have such different views from the same information is always interesting. The crux of the issue is whether or not they feel this revolution called Social Media is going to impact them. The ones that get it are almost emotional because they realize this is “game changing” and business will never be the same going forward.

For the others, it is just a matter of time. They too will understand the power of this new way to communicate and build deeper and more trusted relationships – someday. It is clearly a question of “when”, not “if” any longer as to how social media will impact their business.

One individual we met with today was Dennis Brislawn of Brislawn Lofton LLP law firm. Dennis is one of the “early adopters” that not only “gets it” but is very passionate about it and understands how it will change both the legal profession and other businesses – way to go Dennis!! For those executives out there not quite sure, hang in there, the first sign generally comes when a major competitor starts using it and getting results – then they “get it.”

Blaine

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Social Media is MORE social…

Blaine Millet — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:54:19 +0000

Finally there is a report out and some real data supporting what we have been espousing for some time now about the socialability (is that a word?) of people using social media. Most people we talk to feel that if someone is using the tools of social media (blogs, twitter, facebook, etc.) they are spending too much time in front of their computers and not in front of people. We beg to differ…

What I have observed is just the opposite – when people are actively building and deepening their relationships online, they are far more social when they are in person. This was also the case in a recent analysis and report by PewInternet in their recent report, Social Isolation and New Technology. The report talks about how much stronger and deeper their relationships are “because” of the use of technology such as social media and mobile phones – quite the opposite of what most suspected.

The whole purpose of social media and social networking is to build stronger, deeper and more trusted relationships so you can leverage the power of “word-of-mouth” to meet new people who are similar or who are interested in you and your organization. If you can do this 2X or 3X or even 10X faster and with more robustness than traditional means, then GET ONLINE!

Blaine

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El Gaucho Bellevue – leading the pack…

Blaine Millet — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:17:05 +0000

There is about to be a leading edge event tomorrow from 11:30am – 1:00pm – a “Taste and Tweet” event for El Gaucho Bellevue. This is the first of its kind we have seen where a very high end, well established restaurant is merging with the power of social media, Twitter to be exact.

They just opened their new Bellevue location in the City Center building where Microsoft is going to be occupying virtually all of the building. The restaurant is fabulously designed and very high class but not stuffy. Anyway, I digress. They are trying to introduce people to their new location and also their new luncheon menu. We suggested they use Social Media (what else?) to get the word out, have some fun and let people know they are there.

So we set up a “Taste and Tweet” event where about 35 people (mix of media personalities/writers and large twitter users) would be tasting some of their menu items (which can be found her at their Chef’s Blog) and then tweeting what they think to their followers. We don’t know how it will turn out but we know it has certainly created a lot of “buzz” in the media so far and will certainly be something others will want to copy – way to go El Gaucho, you’re the leader!!

My hat goes off to Chad Mackay and Kerri Lewis for being such forward thinkers to recognize you can take something that is such a powerful brand and mix it with the new revolution in communications, Social Media. They “Get It” for sure and will set the bar for others to copy. Regardless of how successful it is and how much press they get, the jumped in the water and will soon be the envy of many others – just watch.

You can follow the event on twitter by following El Gaucho Bellevue at @ElGauchoBell. You can also check out their awesome food items at El Gaucho Bellevue Food. Check it out – it is going to be a lot of fun and very entertaining.

Blaine

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Marketing – friend or foe…

Blaine Millet — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 05:51:45 +0000

In the world of Social Media, who can you turn to that knows what is going on and “gets it?” Marketing may NOT be your best solution – or is it?

Meet Kerri Lewis, Marketing Director for El Gaucho Restaurants (part of the Mackay Restaurant group). When we first met Kerri, she was like most of the people we meet in marketing – knew something about Social Media but hadn’t spent enough time with it to know the best ways to use it. This is very typical of what we see in both the audiences we speak to and our consulting clients. McCann Erickson Bristol found that 65.6% of the marketing professional said they did not know how to use it for the purposes of marketing.

However, there is one big difference between Kerri and most of the other marketing professionals we meet – she knew what to do about it! She realized this was powerful and that her organization could benefit from having a strategy and deploying it. So rather than letting her ego get in the way, she jumped in with both feet and embraced some assistance rather than deflecting it. Way to go Kerri!!

Do a self-evaluation of your own organization – is your marketing leadership friend or foe – do they get it or are they threatened by it? You be the judge. If they are like Kerri and Mackay Restaurants, you are part of the minority but fortunate companies and you will most likely reap the benefits. If you are like the majority, your marketing people will do whatever they can to protect their ignorance and egos – not allowing you and your company to reap the many benefits Social Media has to offer.

You be the judge – is your marketing person or group your friend or your foe. Let’s just hope their more like Kerri than the other 65.6% of the population.

Blaine

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Why bother with Social Media…

Blaine Millet — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 16:59:16 +0000

People everywhere are talking about the “buzz” of Social Media – in the darkest recesses of business. Twitter this, facebook that, blogs here, LinkedIn there – its everywhere. But with such mass awareness and potential adoption, there are two ugly words that raise their head – CONTROL and RISK.

However, I believe that with this new found freedom from Social Media, companies can “reach out and touch” people so much “faster, deeper and cheaper” than they ever could before while building “broader” and “stronger” relationships. At at the end of the day, isn’t that what we all want in business? As the “official tweeter” for Sharpie pens said (@SharpieSusan) said in a recent interview, “I think you’d have to be living in a cave to have missed the social media movement and the power it can wield over brands.”

Enter side stage, the “stalwarts” of traditional media and, of course, their “lock it down, don’t lose any control or assume any risk” – The Wall Street Journal. They recently published their “conduct rules” for such Social Media tools as twitter and facebook (among others). My question to them, “WHY BOTHER TO ENGAGE IN SOCIAL MEDIA?” There isn’t anything in these “conduct rules” that reinforces what Social Media is all about – engaging in a dialog with your audience in a personal, authentic and honest manner to share how you feel and what can help your audience.

My advice to the WSJ. Just keep doing what you’re doing and each morning when I back out of the driveway I won’t even realize I have run over the newspaper since it will be so thin it won’t even be a “bump” any longer.

Blaine

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Deer in headlights? Some deer move…

Blaine Millet — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 22:37:23 +0000

When clay and I first started doing seminars on “What CEOs need to know about Social Media, it was to address a real issue we were seeing in small and middle-market businesses. The CEOs and owners were clueless to what Social Media was all about and completely unaware of this Tsunami in communications heading toward them and their business.

What is interesting to me today is that after giving almost 30 speeches to close to 500 people, the percentage of top executives that are clueless remains over 80% – that is shocking to me. So while we continue our journey to help “educate” and “enlighten” as many as we can, we hope to reduce this number as rapidly as possible.

However, at the same time, what is also very encouraging to me is how many of the “deer are getting out of the way” of oncoming traffic and starting to do something about it – way to go! They are moving from the “experimental” and “enlightenment” arena to the “mainstream” – doing something about it and “engaging” in the Revolution. I would encourage anyone that has considered doing something to just do it (with a plan of course) but GET IN THE GAME.

This can’t be learned from the sidelines – only with active participation. And participation by top executives, owners, CEOs and others – not the 28 year old marketing person that happens to know Facebook really well. This is your business and livelihood – make the investment and get out of the way of the headlights and you will reap some massive rewards – faster, deeper and cheaper than you could ever have done before. Don’t be the deer that gets caught in the headlights…we all know how that story ends.

Blaine

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Is that really you behind the curtain?

Blaine Millet — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 06:41:28 +0000

Whether you are an experienced blogger or just starting out, one thing is critically important to your success at building followers – individualism and authenticity. I know, these words are popping up everywhere it seems these days. But what do they really mean?

To me it is all about building a “Persona” with your audience – helping them understand who the “real person is behind the curtain” as we saw in the Wizard of Oz. If you don’t know the real person behind the text, how can you really build a relationship with that person so you are compelled to follow them and their rants and raves? You can’t.

Who writes your blog entries – you or someone in your organization? If it isn’t you, then it isn’t you. Meaning, if you have a “ghost writer” or “editor” or anyone else that messes with the way you write, then you aren’t developing your own persona or individualism – it’s that simple. The audience will eventually find this out and eventually stop following you. And worse, they will tell others it really isn’t you and you won’t get their followers either. End result – your blog will eventually die.

So write when you feel like writing but make sure it is your writing. If it isn’t, don’t publish it unless you let your audience know it isn’t you. More on how to use “Guest Writers” effectively in another post…

Blaine

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In a “Transparent” world, “Recognition” is key

Blaine Millet — Mon, 18 May 2009 17:23:39 +0000

Regardless of whether you like it or not, we are definitely living in a “transparent” world today. There practically isn’t anything someone can’t find out about you – and with only a few clicks of the mouse. Amazing, absolutely amazing. The world wide web has turned into the world wide “diary” and “history book” of your life. If you doubt this is the case, just Google your name or do a simple search on such social media tools such as twitter, facebook and others.

One area Clay and I don’t see enough of yet is the desire to recognize the source of our information. Too often someone gives a quote or supplies information that “appears” to be something they created or found on their own. Generally, this is not the case. It is vital, critical, imperative that you recognize and give credit where credit is due when it comes to sharing information. The last thing you want to do is provide your audience with information that you found and not give the originator credit or “recognition” for this. This is both the right thing to do and your audience will give you kudos for being “transparent” with them.

The other positive is that this really helps with SEO (search engine optimization). Search engines love it when you “link out” to other sites from your blog. So do both yourself and the author a favor – give credit where credit is due and recognize others for what they have contributed. After all, the reason they are reading your post is because they like your “lens” on the world – not just because of the content.

Blaine

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Welcome…we hope you enjoy the “JOURNEY”

Blaine Millet — Sun, 17 May 2009 07:00:11 +0000

We have stories, lots of stories and we want to share them with you in a way that you will be both captivated and compelled to want to continue reading our blog. This is not going to be your normal corporate blog with boring corporate posts about how wonderful we are (we have another blog, SoMeExec, for that purpose). Nope, this is all about sharing our “Persona’s” with you through all of our experiencs in the area of Social Media and business.

We want you to learn. We want you to experience. We want you to be “better for reading our blog than you were when you arrived”. By sharing our stories and experiences about what we see others doing, hopefully we can relate to you and share some “gold nuggets” with you along the way.

Last, but not least, we are about “helping you” in everything we do. If we can’t write something that we feel will help you as a person or in your organization, we will hit the “delete key” and keep on going. So let’s begin the JOURNEY and have some fun along the way.

Enjoy…

Blaine

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