Podcast: The Social Media Job Market Heating Up?
(35 MINUTES)
The job market for social media and marketing is taking off. Yet what the hell is social media to begin with and are marketers well-equipped to staff up and get the job of…. of… uhh… what’s the task at hand again? Oh yes — “Engage, Engage!” Today, “customer empowerment” is the new buzz term — supplanting “word-of-mouth” and “buzz” marketing. What is this all about anyway and, more importantly, how can a business owner or marketing steward actually hire talent to get the job of engaging and empowering done? Should they hire talent?
Marketers are being told to ‘engage’ their customers, form digital communities and participate in a ‘conversation’ in highly ‘authentic’ ways using this thing called social media. Problem is ‘social’ isn’t clearly defined and appears to have serious interdisciplinary considerations — it seems to straddle PR, mar com, promotions, customer service just to name a few. Marketers seem ill-equipped to get the job done on the strategic (organizational) and tactical (human resources) sides. Social marketing is emerging and marketers are practicing as they pioneer. They’re trying to chase down customers that are increasingly immersed in all things digital.
But is what we’re talking about marketing at all… really? Do customers really want honest-to-goodness ‘relationships’ with marketers or do they just want more control over what and how they buy or consume? A new breed of social media agencies and service providers claim to have all the answers and, yes, they’ve convinced a good number of marketers to steam ahead rather blindly. But we know better.
So how should an organization go about hiring social marketing staff?
How should they organize and staff up?
Is it too early to even talk about this kind of thing for most companies and if so why?
Share your feedback, comments, suggestions, news tips or saucy gossip here on our blog! We’ll consider sharing it with listeners on our next program.
Podcast: “Tips and Tricks to Get S*!% Done in a Hyper-Connected World”
(43 MINUTES)
MP3 File
I once worked for a CEO who called it “GSD” — Getting Shit Done. Everyone on the team of our startup Web marketing company had to come up with our own systems to GSD each week. For me that meant creating systems that kept me focused and productive. It also meant being able to close the deal — earning commitment from clients.
Much like we’re always selling we’re always needing to GSD to earn our keep — whether we’re working for ourselves or for others as employees.
This week I asked the gang — a group of successful professionals — to reveal their secret sauce behind the systems they use (the games they play with themselves) to keep on track while at home, at the office (or at this thing called a “home office”).
How do you manage priorities? What decision-making process do you use in a hyper-connected, always on world where everything seems to be a priority? How do you actually Get Shit Done each week? Do you GSD?! What are common hurdles that must be cleared and how do you clear them?
What are some good resources for people who are seeking help in getting organized and Getting Shit Done in their lives?
Share your feedback, comments, suggestions, news tips or saucy gossip here on our blog! We’ll consider sharing it with listeners on our next program.
Podcast: “How to Create Good a Web Site That Sells”
(30 MINUTES)
MP3 File
Here’s what I posed to the gang this week: Give me an ugly Web site and I’ll give you a winner! Sure, brains like Rex Briggs tell us that “What Sticks” is what sells but at the end of the day, it’s not about ideas and positioning — it’s about execution and getting people to dig deep. The buck stops with people and Web sites that SELL by convincing people to instinctively slap down the charge card and push BUY IT NOW.
As I see it… on the Web, the uglier the site the better it sells. Yet is it myth or is it true? If it’s true how is it that these single pages filled with text and an occasional audio or video testimonial are sooooo ugly yet wildly effective? Heck, what is “good design” or a “good user interface?” Is it changing? Do “human-computer interaction” gurus like Jakob Nielsen hold the answers? Are there multiple best practices and how can one choose which is right for them?
Let’s try to understand the choices. Let’s figure how to actually make the Web design decision — whether you’re building their own Web site, using a template or outsourcing it to a tech-savvy helper. What is the process of creating a “good Web site” that sells?!
Share your feedback, comments, suggestions, news tips or saucy gossip here on our blog! We’ll consider sharing it with listeners on our next program.
