Conan O’Brien’s commencement speech at Dartmouth

I’m not a huge Conan fan, but this is one of the best commencement speeches I have ever heard…

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Things we’ve been tracking in the past 24 hours…

 

Korea’s ‘Susan Boyle’ moment…

Amazing story! I’m equally impressed by the kindness and courtesy of the judges. Different culture I guess — so much for the Simon Cowell approach…


To refresh your memory…

Nilofer Merchant is a kick-a$$ woman from Silicon Valley about whom I have posted several times before [search box!]. Here she is at TED speaking about innovation…

I think you can why I’ve been blown away by her for years — she’s a deep thinker and engaging communicator, Nilofer totally rocks!

Well, today Nilofer just ask lil’ ol’ me for help in putting together her ‘thought leadership marketing’ toolkit. What a great world it is when a Silicon Vally powerhouse can call on an ‘internet plumber’ from Algoma, WI and they can collaborate using this wonderful thing called the internet…

I know that when you get in the end zone you’re supposed to act like you belong there but I’m awed. And humbled. And I’ve been practicing and perfecting my craft every day for 5 years just waiting for an opportunity like this. I’m ready to kick a$$ for you — let’s roll, Nilofer…

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All the topics that interest US in the past 24 hours…

 

An inside look at my morning routine and the tools I use to bring e1evation.com together…

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFHGIoLhyQQ

In case you missed it, I’ve covered Google Reader in depth here, Feedly here, Gist here, and Shareaholic here

btw, I’m aware this not my best video yet, but I’m learning to use Camtasia which is a powerful, but complex tool. Maybe I should read the manual?!

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Here’s my Alexa ranking…

…after a year on Posterous. Let’s see what WordPress.com can do with this domain! :-D

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Here’s what’s been fascinating me for the last 24 hours…

 

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I found a great post on the Duct Tape Marketing site that was very timely for me…

To help website owners take full advantage of the most important online marketing opportunities, here are 3 things small businesses can do to attract and engage new customers.

Content Publishing & Marketing – Consumers are interacting with multiple content sources before purchase and businesses that provide useful information beyond product features and benefits can attract more traffic and referrals.

Tips, articles, videos and experts interviews provide customers with the information they need to buy and refer to others. Useful content optimized with keywords also attracts more search engine traffic and links.

Social Media & Networking – 90% of marketers say that social media is important for their business according to the 2011 Social Media Marketing Report. Word of mouth, referrals and buzz on social networks can increase awareness, build trust and influence sales.

Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube offer useful platforms for small businesses to be helpful and share information with networks far beyond their customer base.

Local & Mobile – By 2014, mobile Internet will take over desktop Internet according to Microsoft Tag Lab. Small business websites can increase page views by offering a mobile friendly version of their website. They can also increase visibility on local search by making sure they’ve claimed their listings on Google Places and Bing Business Listings.

I just spoke last night to a group of independent home inspectors about these very issues. Some didn’t even have a site. Those that did had ‘brochureware’. The problem, I explained to them, is how will someone know you’re an expert if they can’t google you? That’s now this next generation of buyers will make there decisions…

The answer is as easy as using a free WordPress site as your business blog and adding Google Apps for corporate email. Next, link the rss feed from your blog to your Facebook page, Twitter account, LinkedIn account and your MailChimp newsletter. Then all you need to do is use Google Reader to ‘listen to the internet’ and make the information you need come to you. Out of that listening will come a lot of great ideas for you to create or curate on your website. This is the ‘lather, rinse, repeat’ cycle of ‘thought leadership’ marketing. I call it the ‘e1evation workflow’.

Anyone who can send an email can use these tools to get known by Google and the best news is every single one is free and completely cross platform right down to the smartphone level. Comment or ‘connect’ so we can talk about how this applies to your organization…

I’m a huge fan of Lee LeFever and the team at CommonCraft — no one does short, simple, insightful technology explanations better than they do and this quick tour de force on Twitter is no exception. I encourage you to watch this as well as all the great videos the have over at their YouTube channel

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Google Chromebook med Chrome OS
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the android logo
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Social media is a tool that, on the surface, appears to only have use in certain areas- such as simple interpersonal relationships or business-to-consumer marketing.  However, experienced users recognize the benefits of social media in establishing and maintaining business-to-business marketing.  Those in marketing may claim, “Well, people who are into social media aren’t the audience we are going after.” or, “My distributors are too old- they don’t even use email!”  Certainly these arguments are true in some cases, but you will not gain anything if you don’t step out of your comfort zone and try.  Remember that your future network of distributors will most likely be experienced social media users.  If your business peers aren’t deep into social media, their interns and new hires will be.

Many people are still not sure what “social media” is.  Is it Facebook, Linkedin, or Youtube?  Actually it is not any one of these things on its own.  It is a means of communicating, sharing, and listening.  It’s all about sharing your ideas with your distributors so that both of you can be more successful.  Tips, tricks, and success stories help build relationships.  Social media, in all its forms, is all about posting questions to your networks, listening to ideas, and getting timely feedback to create better business partners.  It’s about sharing presentations and demonstrations to help build credibility in your industry.

Social media in the business-to business realm is all about connecting, learning, and growing- it is building and fostering relationships so that businesses can grow together. And remember, its all about the relationships!

tommytrc @ HC Miller [the author of this post] belongs on your follow list! Not only is he the nicest guy in social media but he’s an ‘a-list’ content aggregator and creator as well…

Business Process Reengineering Cycle
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Great stuff!

“A participant of a recent webcast asked me if there is one service every consultant should offer. I didn’t hesitate with my answer. Every practice, no matter how different, should offer clients a diagnostic assessment. 

You might refer to this service as a strategic review, a gap analysis, a business process evaluation, or even an initial consultation. Whatever you call it, your service should evaluate a specific area of client concern in a relatively short, systematic way and offer objective advice. The emphasis is on “short,” “systematic,” and “objective.”

For example, one consultant offers a two-week assessment of client call center operations. During that time, the consultant analyzes the call center’s customer service performance, employee productivity, financial performance, and management effectiveness.” Source: The One Service Every Consultant Should Offer – RainToday

Go to the source and read the whole article…

I don’t comment on politics often here, but here’s a politician who gets YouTube! Ex-reality tv star cum DA Sean Duffy is a former client of mine who looks like he’ll have a new zip code in January — although he’s no technologist himself, at least he understands the value of social media in getting his ‘awesome’ out. Comment, call or use the contact form to discuss how this applies to your business…

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Back in the day, if you wanted support from a business, you had to go to where the business’s reps were. Be it via an 800 number, support forums, e-mail or chat, the business would set the rules about how quickly your inquiry was addressed.

But with social media growing as a real-time support channel, the picture looks quite different these days. Customers are taking back control, and businesses increasingly have to assist on consumers’ terms.

I chatted with a colleague of mine, Brian House of IBM, about the different types of people searching for social support, and we discovered that most can be put in one of two categories. The first is the “social media native.” These are people who use social media, specifically Twitter (Twitter), as their main point of contact with companies and brands. These types are social media-savvy and reach for Twitter to share their everyday thoughts and opinions, which often overlap with their use of products and sentiment about brands.

The second type is the “last resort social media user.” This type of customer is more dangerous to a business because she is likely frustrated with the brand’s traditional support channels and has resorted to the public forum of social media to voice negative sentiment. She is not happy and won’t hesitate to share her opinion with friends.

Social support is no longer a luxury, but a necessity in today’s business climate. It’s an opportunity to maintain engagement with the savvy users in category one and stay on top of potentially damaging chatter from those in category two. To ensure that you are successful, here are five tips and considerations that you need to think through before engaging in social support.

You can follow the ‘via’ link above to go to the source and read the 5 tips…

I was drawn in by the title of this compelling YouTube video. It’s a thoughtful piece on why it may not be as easy as you’d like to introduce new strategies…

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Here are the top 5 websites [ranked by reach according to Alexa] of brands headquartered in Kewaunee County…

  1. e1evation.com
  2. e1evation net
  3. jagdidit.com
  4. business.toddlohenry.com
  5. wspackaging.com

Could it be that we know something about how to use business blogging to drive traffic to a website? Comment below or ‘connect’ above to discuss how this applies to you and your organization…

It’s always interesting to go back and see where you were a year or so ago thoughtwise and what you may have learned since then. My ‘old post promoter’ randomly brings up old posts and this one, looking back on 2009 is very interesting to me. In it we find the genesis of what I now call the ‘e1evation workflow’ which now consists of 10.5 tools — many of which have stood the test of time since 2009. The mainstays of this process have been working for me for over 18 months now and continue to produce consistent results across a wide variety of industry verticals. What follows is the original post…

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LOL! Here I sit looking back over the past decade, thinking that it seems like only yesterday that we were sitting in fear of Y2K. Now I’m making a living using tools that for the most part didn’t exist back then. It’s a wonderful [tech] life, eh?!

Wrapping up 2009, here’s the list of my favorite social media tools, organized according to their position and role within the e1evation system. This may look like a simple list but it took over a year to develop and that’s not because I’m a slow learner — it’s because I use rigorous filters for inclusion in my social media toolkit. I also am constantly using Einstein’s Razor [“Things must be as simple as possible but no simpler.”] to keep the toolset small. With that intro, here they are…

Perception

  • Google Reader
  • Feedly
  • iTunes [for sme podcasts, silly!]

Publishing

  • Posterous
  • ScribeFire
  • Shareaholic
  • FriendFeed
  • Facebook Page [along with key applications]
  • WordPress

Propagation

  • Facebook Page
  • Twitter [along with Hootsuite]
  • LinkedIn
  • Feedblitz
  • Tumblr

Preferences [other favorites tools]

  • Delicious
  • Evernote
  • Instapaper
  • Scribd
  • SlideShare
  • YouTube

Effectively using these tools together has elevated my business blog to #474,040 in the United States and #1,612,683 in the world in just 6 months according to Alexa. Imagine what you could do if you added one of these tools to your toolkit every month or so next year!

Questions? Feedback? Leave a comment or use the contact page. And, have a great 2010!

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