Trevor Young - PR Warrior | Where PR meets social media meets content marketing

Curated Brain Food to Kickstart Your New Year of Awesomeness!

Happy new year to you - I hope 2013 will be an exceptionally productive, prosperous and positive one for you!

To get the 2013 ball rolling, I have curated a bunch of stuff which I hope you will find interesting, maybe even inspiring.

So let's rock this bad boy!

Four 9 books you must read this year

1. THE IMPACT EQUATION - Chris Brogan and Julien Smith

Brogan and Smith follow up their previous best-seller by asking the question: Are you making things happen or just making noise?

The Impact Equation, in the authors' words, is about "getting a large audience to see and act upon your ideas and learning how to build a community around that experience to take it to an even higher level".

Brogan and Smith's book is based on an 'equation' for ensuring your brand has meaningful impact; to explain it, they use the acronym C.R.E.A.T.E., which stands for:

• CONTRAST - differentiating your idea in the marketplace (standing out by being remarkable).
• REACH - the greater the number of people you can connect with, the more influential your idea can become (audience).
• EXPOSURE - how often you connect with your audience (frequency).
• ARTICULATION - ensuring your idea is easily and quickly understood.
• TRUST - building a trusted bond with your audience.
• ECHO - the "feeling of connection" you provide your audience with your idea.

 The Impact Equation is an interesting and insightful read. It packs a heap of ideas and 'mini-stories' between the covers, and is designed to make you think. I reckon it succeeds!

2. POWER STORIES - Valerie Khoo

Valerie Khoo is a journalist and entrepreneur who has done a mighty fine job of seamlessly combining her two loves of business and storytelling, not just in this book but in her life generally.

As the founder of the Sydney Writers' Centre (recently renamed the Australian Writers' Centre), Khoo has been teaching people to tell stories for years.

In Power Stories, she outlines  the eight stories you must tell to build an epic business. Given much of marketing today revolves around the ability of company executives to effectively be able to tell a yarn that engages people, this book is right on the money, perfect for the times.

3. PLATFORM: Get Noticed in a Noisy World - Michael Hyatt

I'm a fan of Hyatt's work (his blog is also worth a look) - this book might be a bit basic in parts if you've been in the blogging and social media space for some time, but it's always good to have someone join the dots for you and remind you of what works in terms of increasing your profile in today's noisy and congested world.

According to Hyatt, great ideas are no longer enough.

As the former CEO and current Chairman of Thomas Nelson Publishers, one of the largest publishers in the world, Hyatt says he has met hundreds of hugely talented people with outstanding ideas.

Unfortunately he says, most of them couldn’t get published. Why? Because they didn’t have a 'platform'.

But it’s not just authors. In the past ten years it’s been increasingly difficult for anyone to get the attention they need to succeed in such a noisy world. This includes: public speakers, bloggers, recording artists, politicians, business owners, entrepreneurs, sales and marketing people, corporate executives etc.

"Basically anybody who has something to say or to sell," Hyatt says.

4. CTRL ALT DELETE - Mitch Joel

Okay, you'll have to hold your horses on this one until May when it's released, but I reckon it's shaping up to be a ripper read.

Joel's first book - Six Pixels of Separation - was excellent; I also religiously listen to his weekly podcast (also called Six Pixels of Separation), you can back it in his follow-up release will be provocative. Indeed, the subtitle certainly gives that impression:

Reboot Your Business. Reboot Your Life. Your Future Depends on It.

Okay, and you can also add these five 'honourable mentions' (three of which are from Seth Godin).

Marketing guru, power blogger and business disrupter, Seth Godin, has gone and released three new books over Christmas. I think I want them in hardcover, and haven't got around to ordering them yet, but they're definitely on my to-read list.

They are:

• The Icarus Deception: How High Will You Fly?
• V Is for Vulnerable: Life Outside the Comfort Zone
• Whatcha Gonna Do with That Duck?: And Other Provocations, 2006-2012

 I'd also like to think my forthcoming book through Wiley Publishing - microDOMINATION: How to Leverage Social Media and Content Marketing to Build a Mini-Business Empire Around Your Personal Brand - will be a 'must-read' :)  Keep an eye out for it early in April.

And finally, for something a bit different, a friend of mine Cameron McLellan has launched his first book called My Four-Year-Old: The Property Investor. Cameron is a successful property investor and businessman; in this book he shares the knowledge that has allowed him the option to retire in his 30s, amass a substantial portfolio of property and build a group of companies that have been listed in five BRW Fast Growth Lists. (Disclosure: I have been advising Cam around the launch of his book and personal brand).

7 blogs to keep an eye on

1. Social Media Examiner - dubbed "Your Guide to the Social Media Jungle", Michael Stelzner's online magazine continues to regularly serve up huge dollops of well-researched, high-value information pertaining to the world of social media marketing. Whether it's a how-to around a particular social networking site or case studies of brands that are doing things well in the new media space, IMHO Social Media Examiner should be atop your weekly reading list. 

2. Web Ink Now - David Meerman Scott's blog has been a must-read of mine for several years now, and continues to be one of the blogs I read religiously every week. David, who was one of the pioneering authors in the social media and content marketing space, uses his blog to chronicle the new realities of marketing and public relations on the Web

3. Dionne Kasian Lew - The Social Executive  - Dionne is a friend and collaborator (we'll be giving a joint presentation at the first IABC Victoria event for 2013 on February 21) who, having left a remarkably successful communications role at VicRoads, has launched her own consulting and advisory practice. Very few senior communications executives in Australia have the practical insights into, knowledge of and progressive thinking around social media as it pertains to the enterprise. Dionne does. Her recently launched blog (and business), The Social Executive, is worth keeping tabs on if you want an insider's view of how social media is affecting the 'C Suite'.

PIC: Dionne Kasian Lew ~ The Social Executive

4. Grow - Mark Schaefer's blog is a veritable treasure trove of great insights and ideas; the title is apt - Schaefer's thriving online community is all about helping you to grow your company, reputation, customers, impact and profits.

5. CIPR's The Conversation - a thoughtful curation of terrific PR content on the web, run by the UK Chartered Institute of Public Relations and featuring multiple authors from around the world. If you're in PR and communications reading this blog on a weekly basis will 'up' your knowledge of the new media landscape 10-fold! (Disclosure: my PR Warrior content is syndicated to this blog).

6. Spin Sucks - a multi-author blog for PR and marketing pros that covers issues and trends to do with communication, social media, advertising, SEO and entrepreneurship. It's credo? “Fight Against Destructive Spin!”. 'Nuff said.

7. Content Marketing Institute (CMI) blog - if content marketing is your thing (and let's face it, if you're in PR, marketing and communications today - it needs to be), this blog should be on your weekly 'to-read' list. Jam-packed with rich, informative and practical articles authored by a range of experts from across the content marketing realm, CMI will arm you with plenty of insights and practical know-how to help you in your content marketing efforts, whether you're a newbie or an emerging expert in the space.

5 posts to blow you away!

Here are five posts that contain a broad spread of awesome information, links and advice across PR, social media, personal branding and content marketing. 

• 31 Must-Read Social Media Posts

• Develop Your Personal Brand Strategy: 15 Must-Read Articles

• The Ultimate List of Content Marketing Awesomeness

• 21 Social Media Predictions from the Pros

• The Best of Copyblogger in 2012 

 

11 people to follow on Twitter

 

• @tedrubin - Chief Social Marketing Officer Collective Bias™

• @jayrosen_nyu - teaches at NYU and blogs at pressthink.org

• @LisaPetrilli - great source of all things to do with visonary leadership

• @servantofchaos - chronicles the ever-evolving digital landscape

• @lucymarcus -  leadership thinker and doer

• @jangles - Neville Hobson: UK-based communications blogger and podcaster

• @mitchjoel - Canadian digital marketing podcaster, author, speaker

• @briansolis - digital analyst, marketing futurist and best-selling author

• @steverubel - EVP/Global Strategy and Insights for Edelman

Also, as per the bloggers above, @DionneLew, @dmscott and @markwschaefer provide terrific value on Twitter as well.

6 tools, apps & platforms to check out 

• Mightybell - creative online spaces for groups; what can you use a Mightybell space for? Start a group, organise a class, create a project or plan an event.

• Bufferapp - simple scheduling app that makes it super-easy to share your tweets or Facebook (or LinkedIn) updates during the day/across the week.

• Informly - provides simple statistics from your favorite cloud services.

• Trendspottr - a real-time viral search and predictive analytics service that identifies the most timely and trending information for any topic or keyword.

• TweetLevel - a nifty app by global PR firm Edelman that calculates a person's influence on Twitter.

• RebelMouse - a cool app that aggregates an individual Twitter account's tweet stream in very visual way.

 + bonus '24 must-have social media marketing tools' (courtesy of Social Media Examiner).

So there you have it folks, plenty of brain food to keep kick off your new year with!

Make it a good 'un! 

 

Big Trend for 2013: Visual Aggregation of the Social Web

If you were looking for pointers as to where the social web is headed, I can sum it up in two words:

Visual aggregation.

As we all know, visualisation of the social web moved ahead in a big way in 2012 - THINK: Twitter and Facebook header images and the incredible growth of Instagram and Pinterest.

However, as the year drew to a close, I turned my attention to three platforms that aggregate individual tweet streams in visually appealing fashion. I'm speaking of:

• Twylah
• RebelMouse
• Glossi

Below are some screen-grabs (including quick summation) from each:

Twylah

Twylah is more magazine style and curates your tweets under frequently-used subject headings (although you're able to 'pin' three topics you want positioned at the top of the page).

For example, as you can see from the screen-grab below, topics I tweet about often include content marketing, social media, Spotify and Instagram (the 'Bookmarked' heading comes from the fact I will often tweet about an article or post that I've bookmarked on Delicious.com).

Twylah also lets you send 'Power Tweets', which are tweets you send from Twylah's platform to your Twitter followers that include links back to your Twylah page complete with the text of your tweet, embedded content from the link you've shared, and other related tweets of yours.

RebelMouse

Of the three platforms mentioned in this post, RebelMouse is my favourite, if only for the fact I think it looks the best. Very Pinterest-like, eh?

I also like the way RebelMouse makes it super-easy for people to re-tweet (or update on Facebook) your tweets, or re-post other people's RebelMouse entries on your own page. Again, like Pinterest.

You can also elect to incorporate feeds from Facebook, Flickr, Instagram, Google+ etc.

If I had to pick just the one social aggregator, this would be it.

 

Glossi

Glossi is the latest aggregator to come to my attention.

As you can see from the example below, Glossi (actually, it's Glos.si) puts your Twitter avatar and background front and centre, so you need to scroll down to get to a person's content.

Glossi has a heap of social networks it can pull feeds from - more than RebelMouse - including Vimeo, LinkedIn and YouTube. It also allows you to add an RSS feed (for example, I've added the PR Warrior feed; RebelMouse also allows you to do this).

Glossi also allows you to determine whether photos, text or video dominates your page, which is pretty cool.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Are you using any of these aggregators?

Which one do you prefer?

Vizify is another interesting platform you might like to check out, although it's more about visualising your 'bio'. By way of example, here's my Vizify page.

 

Online Media Monitoring Trends with Warren Weeks, Cubit Research (VIDEO)

Having worked in public relations for 20 or so years, one area that has been the bane of my existence (and probably everyone else in the industry) and that's media monitoring.

Whether from the point of view of just seeing what media coverage you've received from a campaign, or something more strategic - i.e. monitoring the competitive landscape looking for trends and potential 'red flags' that have potential to impact on your business - the process of monitoring the media has traditionally been considered expensive and less than comprehensive given the costs involved. Not all the time mind you, but as a general rule.

More sophisticated

Over the years improvements in technology has enabled the process of media monitoring to become more sophisticated; today, you can even "get fries with that" in the form of extra services built around media analysis - you've got heaps of digital 'clippings', but what does it all mean? What trends are emanating from the pile of editorial coverage researched?

Cubit Media Research is setting the pace in global media monitoring and analytics; the company  uses a combination of cutting-edge technology along with with an overlay of 'human touch' in the analytical services it provides clients.

Interview with Warren Weeks, Cubit Media Research

I recently caught up with Warren Weeks, the founder and CEO of Cubit, with a view to demystifying (and making sense of) an area that has become increasingly complex.

• What constitutes media monitoring today in an era where Facebook, Twitter and blogs can be as influential as any newspaper or radio station?
• How is the media monitoring industry coping with a news environment that's getting more fragmented by the day?

"Referential and derivitative analytics" are mentioned during the course of the interview but both Warren and I agreed not to go there!

Suffice to say, Warren speaks candidly about a process that people in  PR and communications  need to understand, and takes us a step beyond and explains what's possible these days (the answer might surprise you) whether you're monitoring the traditional media space or just social media - or more likely these days, both (the question is are you combining your results and analytics across all forms of media?).

We dig down a bit into the topic, so sit back, grab a coffee and enjoy!

PR Warrior Marketing Radio Show - now on iTunes

Alternatively, you can listen via Podbean.

 

What Companies Can Learn From my Five Years on Twitter

As of next month I will have been on Twitter for five years. In social media terms, that’s an eternity.

Of all the social web technologies out there, Twitter continues to astound (and confound). For many large companies and organisations, Twitter still seems to be a source of worry and angst for senior executives. That’s generally because they’re not on it personally and haven’t got a practical knowledge of how it works and the nuances of the Twitter community in action.

Indeed, late last year digital analytics firm comScore reported that “microblogging (ie the key platforms Twitter and Tumblr) had emerged as a disruptive new force in social networking”. That wasn’t news, of course, merely validation of what we all suspected.

According to comScore, in October last year Twitter had reached one in 10 internet users worldwide, and had grown 59% in that year.

In terms of Australia, SocialMediaNews.com.au estimates Twitter has about 2.11 million users. While this figure is dwarfed by Facebook’s user base of 11+ million Aussies, we need to remember that Twitter is public, real-time – and its users tend to be more connected and influential online than most.

Here are some things I’ve learned from being on Twitter these past five years.

Twitter is nothing like the media says it is

If your view of Twitter is shaped by the mainstream media, then it’s likely to be a narrow one. If you believe what you read in the tabloid press, then you probably think Twitter is out of control – a place where everyone is out to hurt everyone else.

I can say without hesitation my experience has been exactly the opposite. I’m not saying nasty things don’t happen online – social media is reflective of the real world, after all – but my number one observation is that Twitter has a disproportionate number of ‘inhabitants’ who are smart, witty, generous and respectful. In other words, they’re great people to hang out with!

Twitter is the ‘digital coalface’

More than any other social network, Twitter truly is the ‘digital coalface’ of what’s going on out there in the connected marketplace.

If you want to find out what’s going on in your industry, or the world generally, if you want to get a real ‘feel’ for what’s happening in social media, then regularly spend a bit of time on Twitter listening, exchanging views and adding your voice to the conversation that swirls around in 140-character bursts.

Twitter takes time, and persistence

Twitter is all about relationships, thus to be successful and build a following and a reputation in the space it’s important to do the same things on Twitter that you would do in real life to build relationships.

That means adding value, giving back, being interesting... and interested! Show up, get involved, have fun and help people. And don’t tell me companies can’t do this: they’re made up of people, after all.

Twitter teaches humility

On Twitter (and social media generally), you’re not going to make any headway as a brand if your company acts like it does in traditional media channels.

From my experience, observations and what I hear anecdotally from others, too many major organisations are very inward-looking; it’s all about them, not the customer (despite what the ‘mission statement’ on the reception wall says). On Twitter, it’s not about you at all – it’s about THEM (the people).

Many companies probably don’t like Twitter because they join up and discover the world doesn’t revolve around them. Take this onboard and your experience in the Twitterverse will be a lot happier and more productive.

Twitter is for leaders

If senior company executives want to know what all the fuss is about in terms of social media, you could do worse for yourself (personally and professionally) and your organisation than throwing caution to the wind, joining Twitter and participating.

Saying you haven’t got the time doesn’t cut it. Nor does the “I’m a private person”-type argument. The world has changed, and we’ve all had to move with it.

Having a CEO or several senior executives actively participating on Twitter (and other social media channels) says more about a company than any million-dollar TV advertising campaign.

It shows you’re an open organisation that’s part of the community (or at least trying to be); it indicates a willingness to connect and collaborate with people and listen to others’ views – these are all important things for a company’s reputation.

THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED ON LEADING COMPANY

The Importance of One Girl Cutting Through the Clutter and Getting People to Act

Brands today need to be interesting and do something remarkable if they are to cut through the clutter and get people to firstly care about them, and secondly, take some sort of action, whether that be to part with money, sign up or merely share content via their personal networks.

And by brands, I mean individuals, companies large and small, as well as nonprofit organisations.

Today's post focuses on a nonprofit called One Girl, and more specifically, a campaign they have running during October called 'Do It In a Dress'.

To that end, I asked food writer and content creator extraordinaire Lou Pardi (pictured above) to write the post because, well currently she's living and breathing the campaign and creating plenty of visibility online (and off!) for the One Girl brand.

Create & share content

And that's the goal, isn't it? To get members of the public to take notice of you and get involved in your cause, plus giving them something they can create content around, content that their friends and acquaintances can them pass along to their friends, who can share with their friends... and so on.

And that's exactly what Lou has done with her Do It In a Dress campaign!

In the post below, Lou explains the campaign and her role in it, as well she shares some excellent social media and content marketing tips associated with her activity. Thanks Lou!

(And yes, if you look closely at the photo at the bottom of this post, you might - just might - see a PR Warrior in a school dress! Photo taken at Melbourne Media Makers)

GUEST POST: Do It In a Dress (by Lou Pardi)

Do it in a dress is One Girl’s major fundraiser. One Girl is an organisation which gives girls in Sierra Leone the opportunity to access education and sanitation. It was started by two Melburnians, Chantelle Baxter and David Dixon.

This year they asked me to get on board as a champion, and although donning a school dress isn’t something I thought I’d be doing ever again, after learning more about their organisation, I was more than happy to participate.

Pic: doitinadress.com/loupardi

One Girl implements education and sanitation programs on the ground in Sierra Leone. It’s one of the worst places in the world to be born a girl. Young women are more likely to be sexually assaulted than receive an education.

The idea behind One Girl is that changing one girl’s life helps the whole community – an educated girl gets married later, makes different family decisions, has less children and alleviates poverty for everyone.

Anyone can participate – simply by signing up at www.doitinadress.com, and either wearing an old school dress, or buying one from the site. You can do it in a dress for an event, a day, a week or a month – and you’re sponsored to do so by friends and family (and if you’re lucky - strangers too). It’s kind of like a fun run, but there’s no running, which makes it perfect for me.

That said, there were a few hurdles to getting me in a dress. I’m a thirty-something friendly feminist who’s just co-founded a new content agency - so running around in a school dress isn’t top of my personal branding agenda...

So why am I involved?

It’s a cause I believe in. The services are implemented by the people who raise the money. Their funds distribution model is transparent. And the campaign, is awesome.

As a secondary perk, exploring the dress as an activation and content marketing tool is pretty fun.

On the back of dresses purchased from One Girl is the message: ‘I’m doing it in a dress so I can send a girl in Africa to school www.doitinadress.com’.

When you hear people whispering, you can simply turn your back on them and all is explained. It’s surprisingly effective.

There are also many, many opportunities to create images, videos, blog posts and social media updates about the campaign – authentically and in a way that captures attention – inspiring others to either join Do It In A Dress themselves, or sponsor a participant.

4 reasons a school dress is a great content marketing tool:

• It causes Kodak moments. Fancy dress is always a great reason for a photo, or a video. (Aside: isn’t it interesting when a slogan outlives a brand?)

• The dress is just as striking on a Facebook, Instagram, or Google+ (or any other image channel) feed as it is in real life. Many of my friends have seen me marching through their newsfeed in a dress. Lots of valuable impressions. They ask me what it’s about when I see them – I don’t have to start the conversation.

• It triggers emotional memories. Almost everyone had a school uniform. It’s planted in their life experience – so the message, that girls overseas don’t have access to education, hits effectively.

• It’s awesome. I’ve long been of the view that if you want to create a buzz, the key is to do something awesome. Colloquially – ‘awesome’ is associated with something impressive. Because wearing a school dress takes most people out of their comfort zone – people are impressed. Although I’ve put out calls for sponsorship for some tasks – many of my sponsorships have come from people who’ve seen what I’m doing through social media – and logged onto the site and contributed of their own accord. Some of them are friends of friends, or people I’ve never met.

5 ways to get the most out of school-dress style content marketing

• Include a URL and image in all posts – even if I’m posting to Instagram, where links aren’t live – I include www.doitinadress.com/loupardi

• Establish and include a hashtag in all posts. I include #doitinadress on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube posts and tag Do It In A Dress on Facebook posts.

• Where possible – provide context. If I have room in Twitter posts and on Instagram, I include #sponsor, #girlseducation or #girlsedu and #sierraleone.

• Have the same conversation, again. When people ask me what’s with the dress on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram – I don’t just direct them to www.doitinadress.com - I explain it, publically in whichever channel it’s started, so it can reach a broader audience.

• Be authentic. Just because you’re doing something unusual doesn’t mean you should completely reinvent yourself. The things I do in a school dress aren’t so different from what my community would expect from me – a lot of eating and drinking, some regional adventures. No cute schoolgirly poses.

Pic: doitinadress.com/loupardi

GUEST POST: Lou Pardi is a journalist and co-founder of content, copy and video agency Milk Bottle Productions.

Hanging Out with Guy Kawasaki Chatting Google+ and Startups (VIDEO)

I've been dipping in and out of Google+ for some time now but after participating this afternoon in a Google Hangout with best-selling author and influential Silicon Valley figure Guy Kawasaki, I'm more motivated to give it another go.

I participated in the Hangout  along with several others including Seb Eckersley-Maslin and AJ Kulatunga - we chatted mainly about two topics: Google+ and the tech startup world (see video below).

If you're wanting to explore Google+ more, Guy curates a feed from what he calls the Google+ 'Pluserati', which you might find interesting.

Guy has been in Australia for the Vodafone Foundation's App Aid 'Coding for a Cause' event which wrapped up yesterday.

 

How King Arthur Flour Built a Passionate Community of Fans Around its Brand

I recently wrote about US-based brand King Arthur Flour and posed the question:

If a 200-Year-Old Flour Company Can Nail Social Media, Why Can't Your Brand?

I wrote that King Arthur Flour was really nailing both social media and its online kindred spirit ‘content marketing’, and was doing so better than most large Australian companies operating in higher interest categories.

Being such a connected brand, members of the King Arthur Flour team quickly acknowledged my post, both on Twitter and email. I asked if they would mind doing a Skype interview with me so I could explore in more depth what they're up to in terms of social media - this is the result.

In this interview I chat with PJ Hamel, who is part of the company's web team and involved in a lot of its content creation and online community activity.

PJ has been with the Vermont-based company for 22 years. She sheds light on the approach King Arthur Flour takes when it comes to social media and content marketing, and provides advice to companies wanting to go down a similar path.

Key Takeaways:

• King Arthur Flour has been using social media for four years, kicking off with Facebook. However, the company has been active building its online community for over 10 years.

• Connecting with customers and helping them connect with one another is critical because that's what builds a community.

• Social media is a door that people walk through to get to your content.

• King Arthur Flour's social media and content marketing strategy is to make "warm and human connections" with anybody interested in baking - first you become friends with people, earn their trust and then give them a reason to want the product you're selling.

• Big companies don't need to be faceless, just make a smaller team of people that are willing to make friends and put their names and faces out there on the social web.

• Mastercard is an example of a big company that is using social media well: they monitor all the time and are quick to respond to people.

• Being large isn't an excuse for not having good social media.

• Smartpak sells supplies for horses and has "really got inside the horse lover's head" - it is a good example of a brand using Facebook well (definitely worth a look, their Facebook page has over 250,000 likes).

• Trust, trust, trust - you have to build trust with consumers!

• Be on as many social media channels as makes sense because you never know when a channel is going to take off.

• The basis of social media is to "treat people well and they'll keep coming back".

• Pinterest drives a lot of traffic to the King Arthur Flour website - "it's very viral".

• You don't have to devote a whole team to social media, you just have to have a few people that love doing it and are willing to spend time making it happen.

• Advice to companies thinking about social media: Figure out what your story is! There's something about your business you feel passionate about - tell your story, share it with people! Don't worry about writing something that's perfect - tell it like you would to your mother or your next-door neighbour or your best friend.

 Wise words!

If you're interested in leveraging social media and content marketing strategies to build your brand, then you won't want to miss this insightful interview with PJ Hamel.

 

Connecting Brands & Bloggers: Interview with Katrina Allen, SocialCallout.com

I caught up today with Katrina Allen, one of the three founders of new Australian online match-making service for brands and bloggers, SocialCallout.com.

Katrina (along with partners Valerie Khoo and Michelle Palmer) recently soft-launched SocialCall.com; the website has only just gone into beta phase and already some 500 Aussie bloggers have registered for the service.

As a PR practitioner, one of the greatest difficulties I find is to be across the sheer number of bloggers that are out there. SocialCallout.com solves a particular need in that it allows brands and businesses to post targeted callouts on the website to engage with bloggers and social media influencers. If bloggers/social media influencers find the callout appealing, they connect directly with the brand.

In the video below, Katrina explains how SocialCallout.com works and gives us an update on how the beta testing is going.

If a 200-Year-Old Flour Company Can Nail Social Media, Why Can't Your Brand?

Too often you hear from brands (large and small, but quizzically it generally comes from larger organisations) that they haven't got much to say that’s interesting and therefore social media and content marketing would be a waste of time for them.

Hmmm, really?

You know, just when you think there are deadly boring categories out there populated with brands that at first glance probably DON’T have a lot to say, along comes King Arthur Flour to effectively take that argument and knock it out of the park.

Vermont-based King Arthur is America's oldest flour company. 

Yes, you read correctly. FLOUR. That powdery white stuff used for cooking.

This is a business that’s nailing both social media and its online kindred spirit ‘content marketing’, and doing so better than most large Australian companies operating in higher interest categories.

Content Marketing

What is King Arthur Flour doing that’s so progressive? First of all, the brand focuses on producing interesting and relevant content.

It doesn’t flog us about the ears just talking about its flour and why it’s so great, but rather it takes a more considered and bigger picture view. Its content strategy is to educate the public on cooking with flour, celebrate the art of baking (also known as ‘food porn’ - see its blog here) and generally build and cultivate community of people who are interested in baking.

Furthermore - and importantly - King Arthur Flour markets its brand by telling interesting and informative stories across multiple mediums, especially video.

In keeping with its goal of educating amateur, professional and aspiring bakers, King Arthur Flour runs a baking education centre (pictured below), a schools-based ‘Life Skills Bread Baking Program’ and a series of free travelling baking demos.

Social Media

Let’s shift our attention to King Arthur’s social media channels, an area where it is excelling.

The brand has a thriving community on Facebook, with nearly 90,000 people ‘liking’ the page.

Its Facebook updates are regularly ‘liked’ and commented upon. One such post - in which the brand asked its fans to show “support for American farmers in so many parts of our country battling terrible drought conditions” - attracted over 2000 likes (this update also featured a video inviting the public to “take a tour with us through the wheat fields of Kansas and meet some of the people who grow wheat that becomes King Arthur Flour”.).

Many of their updates attract between 70 and 100 comments (unlike ‘likes’, comments demonstrate a deeper level of engagement on the part of consumers).

They’re a creative bunch at King Arthur Flour too.

On the right-hand side of the Facebook page - in the ‘timeline’ - the brand cleverly takes the reader back to 1790 when the company was founded, then on to the 1800s, 1900s and so on. In other words, it uses mini-stories to tell its overall brand story, but produces it in such a way so people can discover it in their own time.

The brand is more active on Twitter than most companies (it has tweeted over 5500 times and boasts 14,000+ followers). Extending to another social network,  124,000 people have placed King Arthur in their Google+ ‘circles’ while on YouTube, the company’s 70+ educational and storytelling-based videos have had over 700,000 views.

King Arthur Flour also publishes a glossy hard-copy bimonthly newsletter (which it sells) as well as an award-winning cookbook series.

And to cap everything off, King Arthur features on its website a forum-based community area where consumers and B2B customers can ask questions, share recipes and start discussions around baking and running a bakery business.

Does all this mean King Arthur Flour doesn’t promote its products?

Not at all, but the brand is adept at earning the attention of its customers and adding value to their lives in interesting, relevant and respectful ways. This way, its ‘sales pitch’ can be deliberately low-key and still be effective because consumers have already bought into the brand and its story.

This is marketing today.

Telling authentic stories with passion and enthusiasm.

Educating customers by creating relevant and meaty content and distributing it across via a number of different media formats.

Connecting with the marketplace and building a sense of community via multiple social networking platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

And finally, understanding that it’s not all about online communication and that face-to-face and event-based activity is the, ahem, icing on the marketing cake.

 THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED ON LEADING COMPANY.

I've Seen Marketing's Future, and its Name is Amanda Palmer

In 1974  Rolling Stone critic John Landau declared: "I've seen rock 'n' roll's future, and its name is Bruce Springsteen." 

In the spirit of Landau and Springsteen, I make a similar bold statement: "I've Seen Marketing's Future, and its Name is Amanda Palmer."

To the uninitiated, Amanda Palmer is an American singer/musician who first made a name for herself as one half of the punk cabaret duo, The Dresden Dolls.

According to Wikipedia, Palmer announced on her blog  she will record a new solo album in collaboration with The Grand Theft Orchestra. The album reportedly will be recorded in Melbourne where - according to Palmer's Twitter bio - she is partially based, along with Boston and New York City.

So what's this got to do with marketing?

Everything!  The independent-minded Palmer recently raised $1 million+ from nearly 25,000 backers (read: fans) via the crowdfunding site Kickstarter.com to help finance a new record, art book and tour. A pretty fair effort and something you wouldn't think possible without a strong fan base.

(Further evidence of her following - her Twitter account has nearly 600,000 followers while she has 147,000 Likes on Facebook).

Palmer has been on my 'marketing' radar for a while now, thanks mainly to best-selling author David Meerman Scott who is not only a big fan of her music but also the way she uses social media to connect with her audience.

Here are three posts David has devoted to the recording artist:

1. How Amanda Palmer made $11,000 on Twitter in two hours
2. We are the media: Amanda Palmer and the future of your business
3. Amanda Palmer freaks out to celebrate hitting $1 million on Kickstarter

So, while the Amanda Palmer story has been well covered by David and others, this week I had my own epiphany. It came after reading this story in Techdirt:

How Amanda Palmer Built an Army of Supporters: Connecting Each and Every Day, Person by Person 

The article is a guest post written by Palmer in which she explains the incredible connection she has  with her fans that, in turn, enabled her to raise so much money via the Kickstarter project.

Palmer tells the story of how bamboo grows, likening it to developing a community of fans around your brand:

"A farmer plants a bamboo shoot underground, and waters and tends it for about three years. Nothing grows that's visible, but the farmer trots out there, tending to this invisible thing with a certain amount of faith that things are going to work out. When the bamboo finally appears above ground, it can shoot up to thirty feet in a month."

Photo credit > Gregory Nomoora >

Palmer writes that she has been "tending this bamboo forest of fans for years and years":

"Every person I talk to at a signing, every exchange I have online (sometimes dozens a day), every random music video or art gallery link sent to me by a fan that i curiously follow, every strange bed I've crashed on...all of that real human connecting has led to this moment, where I came back around, asking for direct help with a record...And they help because they know I'm good for it. Because they KNOW me."

Palmer is in-sync with today's 'connected consumer', where multiple micro interactions over time prove more effective than in-your-face chest-beating:

"I tweet all day. I share my life. My REAL life. The ugly things, the hard things. I monitor my blog religiously. I read the comments. I ask for advice. I answer questions. I fix problems. ... I don't try to hide behind a veil of fame. I don't want to be anything more than totally human. I make mistakes, get called out, and apologize. I share my process. I ask for help SHAMELESSLY ... I'm the kind of person they WANT to help, because they know me well enough, after years of connecting, to know WHO I ACTUALLY AM. They don't just get a photoshopped snapshot of my every time I have an album to promote. They see the three-dimensional person, in motion, in real-time. Living and working."

But this is the kicker for me - there is no substitute for passion and authenticity:

"There is no marketing trick. There is human connection, and you can't fake it. It takes time and effort and, most importantly: you have to actually LIKE it, otherwise you'll be miserable."

As Palmer's tech/blog/social media support guy Sean Francis adds at the bottom of the article:

"While you were sleeping, Amanda Palmer built an army."

Great stuff! Highly recommended :)

IMPORTANTLY, WHAT CAN YOUR BRAND LEARN FROM AMANDA PALMER?

BELOW: Amanda Palmer + Neil Gaiman talk about the effect of twitter and the internet on music business A discussion at MOFO Festival 2011 Hobart Tasmania