Do It! Marketing Blog: Marketing for Smart People™

As a marketing speaker and marketing coach, I get a ton of questions about LinkedIn.

Although I'm no social media expert like my pal Corey Perlman, I have learned a thing or two about the REAL value of using the Skills feature on LinkedIn.

In case you missed it, here's my earlier post with a video that walks you through the REAL value of LinkedIn Skills and how YOU can maximize the connection value of endorsing the Skills of folks in YOUR network.

Below is part 2 of the series: Skills Shaping on LinkedIn showing you how you can decide EXACTLY which Skills are featured are on your profile, and how much you'd like to emphasize each.

After watching this video, you'll discover that YOU are 100% in control when it comes to your LinkedIn Skills: which ones you'd like to feature - and which ones you'd like to turn down or turn off - and why.

That's called "Skills Shaping" and you'll find it VERY handy...   

(Hit the "full screen" icon in the lower right for a bigger, sharper video)

Are we connected yet on LinkedIn? If not, I'm happy to put my professional network at your disposal here.

(And if we ARE connected and if you're comfortable doing so, would you be wonderful enough to give some love to the Skills you see on my profile? Thank you in advance for your help.)

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What do you think? Please use the COMMENTS area below to share your experience and opinions about the Skills feature of LinkedIn...

As a marketing speaker and marketing coach, I get a ton of questions about LinkedIn.

Although I'm no LinkedIn expert like my pal Viveka Von Rosen, I have learned a thing or two about the REAL value of using the Skills feature on LinkedIn.

Here's a short video to walk you through how YOU can maximize the connection value of endorsing the Skills of folks in YOUR network: 

(Hit the "full screen" icon in the lower right for a bigger, sharper video)

As you've heard me say about many other social media marketing tools and tactics - the power of using LinkedIn Skills is really not about YOU. No good marketing, sales or business development tactic ever is. 

It's about THEM. 

What do you think? Please use the COMMENTS area below to share your experience and opinions about the Skills feature of LinkedIn...

Marketing Mix: Book Review of "PAID TO SPEAK" published by the National Speakers Association

PAID TO SPEAK is a virtual MBA in the business of speaking. From marketing to positioning to product development to platform skills, it's ALL in here. Well-organized, tightly edited, and with a logical flow from one part of the business to another, PAID TO SPEAK is also unique in that it tells it like it is. No sugar-coating. And no trying to fleece opportunity-seekers into believing the speaking business is a fast, easy, and glamorous way to make money. [It is NONE of the three!] 

Speaking professionally today is about thought-leadership, adding value to corporate, association, and entrepreneurial sectors, and understanding all the different ways that audiences and buyers want to access, use, and deploy your expertise. The book spans a wide range of business models, distribution methods, and revenue models. As it should - to reflect the current reality of many successful speakers (very few of whom have business models that look anything alike!) 

The key value in buying a copy of PAID TO SPEAK, dog-earing it, highlighting it, and taking notes in the margins... is that you will emerge from the experience with a wealth of information, some clear decisions to make, and a game plan to put it all together in a style and manner that suits your personality, your strengths, and your preferences. This is no "one size fits all" template for "THE" way to become successful. There are MANY paths up the mountain - and PAID TO SPEAK should be your personal handbook, guide, and reference to get you there miles ahead of the competition! 

As a speaker marketing expert and head honcho of an inbound marketing agency serving speakers, consultants, and thought-leading professionals, I often find myself with prospects who want to get involved in social media but - sadly - do not understand the intent, ideas, or influence factors that make social media an effective tactic in their overall marketing arsenal.

How can I put this? Ummm... well, they're idiots.

Relax... IDIOT is an acronym that stands for the 5 key misconceptions, faulty assumptions, and pillars of goofy thinking that prevent most thought-leading professionals (YOU perhaps??) from generating maximum results from your social media efforts.

Namely...

I: I, Me, My syndrome

D: Dumb it down

I: Information without invitation

O: Over-selling

T: Today vs. tomorrow focus

Let's take a look at each of these in a bit more detail:

I: I, Me, My syndrome. No, your social media postings do NOT need to be all about YOU. In fact, if all you talk about is YOU - your company, your book, your blog, your brand, your articles, your resources, your tools, your programs, your products, your services... people will ignore you, tune you out, and dismiss you for the self-centered idiot that you are. (Please remember - idiot is an acronym used throughout this post.)

Experts promote other experts. Experts are not insecure about shining the spotlight on others. Experts are curators and pointers-out-of-cool-things. Experts post book reviews BY other experts FOR yet other experts' books.

As long as YOU can be counted on to share interesting, relevant, valuable, sometimes even edgy content, guide your followers to the "good stuff" online, and position yourself as a reliable sherpa in your expertise, you'll get PLENTY of attention, love, and respect. Even MORE SO if you're not a mental weakling who is focused only on hyping your own crap.

Grow up. Step up. Be a real expert and learn once and for all - it's not about YOU.

D: Dumb it down This mistake comes from the fear that if you give away your VERY BEST ideas, strategies, tools, tactics, insights and other secret sauce (yes, the stuff you get paid BIG BUCKS for with your paying clients!) that you will somehow diminish the demand for your paid products and services.

So you "dumb it down." You post that second-rate article. You remove some detail from that tip sheet because you want people to buy your consulting services and not do it themselves. You post the video that only has 3 of your 10 key ideas because heck, if you gave all 10 ideas, they'd never hire you to keynote at the big industry conference - you've already "spilled the candy in the lobby."

Yep - you guessed it: You're an idiot.

The reality is - it works 180 degrees the other way. The ONLY way folks are going to pay you the big bucks is if they have a FIRSTHAND experience of your genius - if they feel it, taste it, touch it, and fully experience it. ONLY THEN will they want more. ONLY THEN will they share it with their colleagues. ONLY THEN will they call their boss over to look at your website or email them your link.

Do you want to be SHARED - or do you want to be SCARED? Your call - but you already know which answer will make you more money. Unless you're an idiot. 

I: Information without invitation  Social media sites are not a dumping ground for your old, outdated, crappy content from books you wrote in the 1980s or articles that you could never get published.

Even rock-solid, current, highly relevant information is NECESSARY but NOT SUFFICIENT to fuel your thought leadership platform and build your empire as an expert.

Here's a secret - the internet actually does NOT need more information posted on it. Not from you. Not from me. Not from anyone.

An effective social media campaign will share information of standalone value and then INVITE a two-way (or 5-way or 17-way) conversation around that information.

Ask questions, seek engagement, invite involvement. 

Offer value, seek opinions, spark conversation - and ask the most powerful question in sales AND leadership AND relationships: "What do you think?"

O: Over-selling One particularly idiotic individual told me that he wanted ALL his Facebook posts to have a hyperlink. Every. Single. One.

Hyperlink to where, you ask?

To HIS online store, HIS products, HIS books on amazon, HIS speaking page, HIS consulting page, HIS services overview. He said, "If you're not linking every Facebook post to a selling opportunity, you're just putting a lot of dead-end junk on Facebook and you'll never make any money." 

Wow - this guy is a WORLD-CLASS idiot.

Social media is not about posting "here's how to buy my crap" - it's not about creating an extra dozen or so sales pages for your products, services or programs.

If your goals are: Sell on Twitter. Sell on Facebook. Sell on LinkedIn. Sell on YouTube...

Your results will be: Unfollow. Unfriend. Unlink. Unsubscribe. You're done. Buh-bye. Idiot.

Lesson 1 for you to share with your idiots: Content comes before commerce.

Lesson 2 for you to share with your idiots: First you earn their attention. THEN you earn their money.

T: Today vs. tomorrow focus The final mistake is to think of social media in the same way that you might think of outbound sales activity.

Think about it: Cold calls. Email blasts. Direct mail. Do those things and the natural question to ask is - OK, how much did we sell?

You made 100 dials, you connected with 20 humans, you had 14 conversations, you qualified 5 serious prospects and then how much did you SELL TODAY?

You sent 10,000 postcards. Requests came back for 300 quotes. So how many widgets did you SELL TODAY?

Social media doesn't work that way. Social media is... well, social. It's about relationships and trust. Relationships and trust don't have an ON/OFF switch - they develop over time.

Transactions happen today from relationships you built last week, last month, and last year. The benefit of that - and the reason it's worth the "wait" is that social media gives you a permanent asset - TRUST.

Blog entries are forever. They continue to sell your expertise, your company, and your value day after day, week after week, year after year. LinkedIn recommendations are forever. People that wrote glowingly of you in 2002 are still "selling" for you and your reputation TODAY.

A voice mail? BEEP - gone. An email? ZAP - gone. A face to face meeting? DONE - bye. Those happen today and they're gone today. 

Sure, you have to sell today. You have to make your quota today. You have to feed your family today. But social media marketing helps you ensure that what you create ONCE today works and lasts and brings customers and clients to you for many years to come...

Not because you SOLD them like an IDIOT -- but because you built the trust and relationships that HELPED THEM BUY today, tomorrow and beyond!

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So... what do YOU think?

And then leave a comment below with your questions, thoughts, and advice on the ideas above.

Are you a DO IT freak? Welcome to the club!! Please use the social media buttons at the top of this post to share it with your network. YOU are a rock star!

Just came across this terrific item from my fellow marketing speaker and marketing coach, Jose Palomino of Value Prop Interactive - take a look. (Jose's ideas are ALWAYS worthwhile so you may want to subscribe too!)

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Just when we thought we had exhausted our creativity with YouTube, up comes this small brand with a truly and literally “out of the box” idea. Bringing to mind those old “Choose-Your-Own-Adventure” books that became a fad among young readers in the 90’s, this recent promotional spot from Tipp-Ex (BIC’s European brand of correctional fluids and tapes) lets viewers interact with the video to change its outcome.

At first, viewers might not realize that the advertisement is interactive, or even that the video they’re watching is an advertisement at all. It starts off as an apparent home video of a two-man camping trip, but their adventure (and unfortunately, their language as well) turns sour when a bear wanders into the campsite. Much to the viewers’ surprise, they are asked to choose what happens next...

Read the rest on Jose's blog, Strategic Propositions

What do you think? Crazy? Innovative? Effective? Share your thoughts in the COMMENTS section below.

Just got a question from one of my NSA speaker friends, Kevin Lerner of PresentationTeam. His question is as common as it is tricky:

"Is it better to promote your personal brand or your company brand?"

He continued, "Do I put more focus into the personal or professional? I'm seeing more and more people who have mostly professional information in their social media profiles and activities (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter). Do I maintain a presence for both? Which one is primary - me or the company?"

Good observation, Kevin, and even better question. As a marketing speaker and marketing coach who works with professional speakers, consultants, and professional services firms, this question comes up a lot.

The answer lies in building your brand sandwich. It's made up of several layers and each one needs to be hot, tasty, and fresh on it's own. (And avoid using ciabatta bread.)

Seriously - here are the layers for your brand sandwich:

• Your personal name/brand (in my case, David Newman)
• Your company name (for me, Do It! Marketing)
• Your book titles (ex: 21 Secrets of Simple Marketing Success)
• Your speech/seminar titles (ideally, there's a book or product with the SAME name in your arsenal)  
• Your sound bites and building your "marketing language bank" (which is itself one of MY sound bites!!)
• Your favorite sayings or expressions (ex: "Fabulous!!!" or "BAM!")

When it comes to social media, the best plan is to market your PERSONAL brand first and foremost. After all, remember it's called SOCIAL media -- not BUSINESS media!

My three rules for social media (and these apply equally well to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and your blog):

1. It's SOCIAL (be a PERSON first) - 3-dimensional, quirky, approachable, authentic, fun

2. It's OUTWARD-focused - Just like making friends, you'll make a lot more of them if you make your social interactions about THEM and not about YOU

3. It's a RELATIONSHIP and not a transaction - treat your followers, fans, and friends like real people. They have egos, they have feelings, they like being thanked, recognized, promoted, and praised. So DO THOSE things and you'll do great.

So Kevin - YOU ROCK, BABY! Thanks for asking the killer question!!

A corporate presence in social media is great -- if you're a corporation.

If you're a 1-5 person business (like 90% of businesses in America are), then you're NOT trading on your company's name - you're trading on your own. Make your social media strategy fit that reality and all the pieces will come together nicely for you.

As you know, the LAST thing I ever want to be called is a "social media expert" or social media marketing coach. Yech. That ain't what I do and it aint' who I am. Ain't. Ain't. Ain't. 

There, that feels better... now what I AM is a social media enthusiast. I love it and I think it's a great tool to add to your internet marketing game plan.

Is it perfect for everyone? No.

Is it useful for some? Yes.

Is it vital for a few? Certainly.

So... to help you ramp up the effectiveness of your social media efforts, you need to know what to say and how to say it.

And most outreach "templates" that these social media tools offer you are pretty weak. Things like the standard LinkedIn connection invite, the Facebook friend connection, and others. No worries, you're about to get hooked up.

LinkedIn:

Quick Marketing 101 review - Do people care about YOU or do they care about themselves? Yes - that's right! 5 points. They don't give a rat's tushie about you and they care 100% about themselves.

Now look at the standard LinkedIn connection invite:

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I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.

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Hmmmm... how do you feel about being "added"? And who cares about "my professional network"? This is all wrong.

Here's your new template - notice the switch in focus and benefit. Plus I added a new line with even more value. Finally, I prevented someone from clicking the "I don't know them" button which LinkedIn penalizes you for:

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I'd like to put my professional network on LinkedIn at your disposal. After we connect, if there's someone to whom you'd like a personal introduction, just let me know.

If you prefer not to connect at this time, please archive this message now. Thanks in advance.

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Facebook:

You can't really go wrong here but I still have a useful connection "script" for you.

Let's say you notice that through your Facebook "Suggestions" (currently on the right side of your home page immediately below the section labelled "Requests"), there are people listed with labels like "37 mutual friends," "51 mutual friends" and so on. 

You can connect with these folks, but chances are excellent that they might not know you from Adam - or Eve. Thus, you need a fun, approachable, and appealing script to drop in when you want to click on them to connect.  After you click "Add as Friend" you'll want to click the link in the dialog box that says "Add a personal message" and type:

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Vanessa - Wow! We have 37 mutual friends. We GOTTA connect simply so we can talk about all these people!

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Twitter:

First rule, don't use automatic Direct Messaging (DM). People hate 'em. I hate 'em. Most savvy Twitter users hate 'em too.

They're used by spammers, affiliate marketers, and MLM salespeople. Just awful.

Not sure how to set that up? Good. You don't need to know. Didn't I just specifically ask you NOT to do it? No matter how "cool, valuable, friendly" you think they are - DON'T do it.

This next bit isn't a script, it's more of a practice. It's called ENGAGEMENT. Rather than simply pumping out clever tweets and retweeting others, build relationships. My formula for social media success (as a social media enthusiast, remember!) is the 3 R's formula:

Resources - Yes, certainly share your blog posts, your micro-ideas, and retweets of cool links and thoughts from others. Your first week on Twitter, this is fine if it's all you do. The second week, though, you better get busy with...

Relationships - Build relationships with other users you follow, admire, or resonate with. Use public @ messages or private DMs to connect with them, comment on their latest contributions, or thank them for an idea. Be detailed - so don't just tweet "@dnewman Hey - Cool!" Instead tweet this: "@dnewman David, awesome ideas on your blog about those social media scripts. Thanks!!!"

Reciprocity - Once you get the Twitter thing going, you've built some good relationships and you're seen as a valuable resource and contributor, it's only natural that people will start to promote you with some reciprocal love. They'll respond to your ideas, they'll Retweet you, they'll promote you in their #followfriday recommendations, and they'll scratch your back as you scratch theirs. 

Your Email Signature:

This is where I see all kinds of stupid stuff. For example:

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Joe Shmoe
Profession - Email - Phone
Feel free to subscribe to my newsletter / read my blog / check out my articles - Web link
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What's wrong with this signature file? 2 little letters - MY. MY. MY. Remember marketing 101, nobody gives a hoot about YOU. 

Consider my new signature file - and one that you should feel free to copy, emulate, or steal:

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_____________________________
David Newman :: Tel 610.716.5984
Helping professional services firms do a better job of marketing themselves
to get MORE leads, BETTER prospects and BIGGER sales

Three resources you can grab right now:

1. Fat-free marketing ideas for the brave, fast, and smart:
http://www.doitmarketing.com/blog

2. Follow me on Twitter to get cool micro-ideas to grow your business:
http://twitter.com/dnewman

3. Connect with me on LinkedIn so you can tap into my 1600+ connections:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjnewman

And then leave a comment below with your questions, thoughts, and advice on the ideas above.

Are you a DO IT freak? Welcome to the club!! Please use the social media buttons at the top of this post to share it with your network. YOU are a rock star!