Scott Moroney

BackNoise Your not ready for this...or are you?

Back Noise is the next generation in employee engagement and listening.  I can't take credit for turning you on to this new tool.  I learned about it through a LinkedIn group and Chad Rothschild in his post on the new tool.  Take a look.  He explains it well and has a link.

Is this the onset of a mutation of Twitter?  In the right hands this can be very powerful.  Take what Comcast has done with their Twitter account.  They are listening and acting.  How about they take it one step further and promote their BackNoise "conversation name" and let it rip.  This expands their audience and encourages people to tell them how to improve their business.  Where else but in social media can you get your customers, those that tend to know more and mater most to your business, to help you serve them better.  Check it out and tell me how businesses...and of course the thick-skinned celebrities, can use this new tool.  I have some ideas.

Check it out.  I opened a conversation about Comcast.  Jump in and try it.

Twitter Trick - Hashtags in Your Blog Title

Yes, I tested it and it works.

To increase the reach of your blog or other feeds coming into Twitter, include the # (hashtag) symbol and a topic (#twittertricks, #comcast, #crazythingspeoplesay, etc...).  This will get your feed pushed into Twitter...and more importantly, the searches of the hashtag.   Keep in mind that Twitter and your Titles in a blog, YouTube, Flickr posts are character based (text).  This aligns to feed the # hashtag perfectly in the testing that I completed. 

The novelty of this idea is that you can reach people that are not already a follower, increase your following, and ultimately improve the performance of whatever you are doing using social media (promoting a cause, introducing a product, or entertaining with news/gossip/info). 

Pick a hashtag or create one and include it in whatever content you are feeding to Twitter.  The results may surprise you.

It's Not All Free...For Good Reason

I believe the next wave of discussion/activity will be around how we all take the sea of social media/marketing/network tools and integrate those that will meet our business objectives. Social Smart is one company that is on the tip of this trend. It won't be free, but many things that are truly free aren't always worth what you put into them.

"We are increasingly seeing  companies and marketing agencies looking at ways of leveraging social media for themselves or their clients. A lot of companies are both looking at, and asking questions about, how to monitor the conversation, or how to measure results, how to avoid bad PR, should they be using this tool or that tool – how, what, why, when, where – that is what everyone wants to know. There is also a lot of confusion out there. They all know they should be ‘doing something with social media’, a few dabble with it if it doesn’t cost them anything – like ‘being on Twitter’. But few are prepared to spend money on a properly planned out, strategically integrated social media presence – which of course is what they really need to do if they want to successfully engage with social media. I know – its the economy. That’s fine – we’re all in the same boat. In the meantime though, companies looking at social media need to understand one thing – every company’s requirements will be different – there are no ‘off-the-shelf’ answers – you are always going to need a solution that is customized to your own particular needs."

To read the full post visit the Social Smart Blog

via socialsmart.wordpress.com

Boost Your "My Name" Search with Google Profiles

You know how important it is to own the first page of Google or Yahoo when someone (employer/client) searches on your name.  It means the difference between credibility and none if you are in the marketing game in any way.

To boost your chances, register a "Google Profile" today.  I did it the other day and expect the results to prove that I am right on this notion.  Why?  Who else but Google knows search.  They own nearly 80% of the search traffic in the US today. 

It is really simple.  Five minutes tops if you know where to find your existing info/links.  Let me know if it helps.  Run a search on Google and Yahoo today and then a month later after getting the profile.  I will let you know what I find as well.

My Google Profile.

Elements of Publicity

Publicity is defined today as..

“The noise you CREATE and voice you SEIZE”

Noise is good.  The most annoying sound to some, is music to the ears of others.  Mass media is inconsiderate of this assumption. It looks to make it all homogeneous.  I don't have the same buying triggers as you do and down the line for all of us.  Our buying triggers are getting more refined and companies trying to attract and influence upon us must adapt to how we prefer and are willing to be contacted.

Promotional methods have shifted, and continue to shift, away from static forms of promotion (noise) such as print ads, tradeshows, catalogs and line cards.  Does this ad from 1960 still make you get in your car and buy a package of Hi-C?  First off, many of us don't read magazines... print format is dying along with newspapers.  They depend upon a new generation of readers to follow on each other.  Folks under 50 or so are online more than offline to find information.

News flash...you don't have to go to a physical tradeshow to see something new in most cases.  Customers are less interested in "lemonade stands" and more interested in how you make the lemonade or how you make it better, especially in tech markets.  Consumer marketing may still have some tradeshow appeal in some cases, but it is limited more to user communities (i.e., Apple users).  In most cases you get your info online instead of in person.

Although efforts to shift to more active media have been up and down during, the tide continues to rise in terms of support of the following basic assumptions:

 Publicity is a necessary element of how companies operate globally (Noise)

• Forms of publicity are evolving along with the preferences of customers and markets
• Many industry media outlets are slow to adopt new forms currently
• Self-publishing is more important and viable than ever (Seize)
• A holistic approach to publicity (all promotion mediums) is more important than ever – nothing exits on its own
• The anchors of the past school of thought are no longer viable debates – move onto how you can contribute

Image from Flickr user Jackie121467's photostream.

Optimist vs. Pessimist - Are You Social?

Are you an optimist or a pessimist?  Glass half-full vs. half-empty?  I am a half-full guy and I do my best to stay positive in an economic climate that is challenging us to redefine ourselves.  This not easy, but it is absolutely an opportunity.

So how am I staying positive?  I am learning, sharing and making friends using social media.  Facebook, Twitter , Squidoo , YouTube , Typepad :  these are all tools that I have been using for a year now to build "Social Me".  Right now this is very inexpensive to do.  My total cost is $100, but you can do it for less.  Let me show you how to get started, or accelerate what you are doing already.

• First search your name on Google and Yahoo.  What do you find?  Disappointed?  Try a search on Scott Moroney, Nick O'Neil, Perry Belcher, Seth Godin.  You will see that we own our names in terms of search results.  This is the fastest growing tactic to find out quickly who you are, for good and bad motives. 
• Start with Facebook  - establish your base camp.  Everything integrates with Facebook fairly well.  If it doesn't integrate already add a "Share on Facebook" link in your browser.  Don't forget to integrate with LinkedIn.
• Go to Twitter - Register a simple account, best in your name.  Make it easy to spell on a mobile phone.  Watch the video, add a feed from it to Facebook. Avoid the #1 Twitter mistake.
• Go to a blog tool - What are you so passionate about or an expert in that you can share with people?  Choose it, get a blog from Google, TypePad, Wordpress or others.  Stick with it and add a feed to Facebook and LinkedIn. 
• Go to Squidoo - A bit like a blog, but you don't have the same uphill climb since you are already in a blog network.  If you do it well, you can generate a little cash to direct to a charity.
• Go to YouTube and Flickr - Do you have some interesting videos and photos to share?  Do it.  Share it on Facebook and Twitter.  This is what fuels these two communities.

This recipe above takes time.  It is not a "get up to speed quick" elixer, but it is a reasonable method to establish who you are in a new world.  I firmly believe in the coming years that whether or not you work as a social media or marketing craftsperson or not that you will see the minimum threshold raised in the job market.  If you are not easily found in these social communities, you will not be found.   Next!

One final thought to test yourself along the way.  GoogleBattle.com is a web-based tool that allows you to pit keywords against one-another.  I did this earlier today to get a better sense of the web search trend about the general climate in the world.  I ran "Positive vs. Negative".  Guess who won?  POSITIVE!  Before you start this plan above, choose a list of five names of people who you would like to compare yourself to in a social world.  Choose a range of social Luddites to social mavens to see how your activity is progressing.  If you select Seth Godin as you top milestone, you will likely fail but please, please prove me wrong.

If you would like to learn more, you can follow me at @scottmoroney on Twitter or read my rants at http://scottmoroney.typepad.com

If not me, there are so many great social media practitioners.  Get involved and get to know some people.

Images are used from Flickr.  Please click on the images to see the original photographer credits and other works.

How Social Media can Help Insurance Companies...and You!

Social media is pervasive in the incredible reach to people and groups.  Social media has incredible technology with unprecedented touch-points, power and speed.  Insurance companies love people that pay their bills, and they love to not spend money to pay claims.  Do you see where this is headed?

What is the biggest problem in the insurance companies’ business model?  Paying claims on accidents or mistakes by their customers.  Some companies do outreach programs to “help” us have safer and healthier lives.  OK.   I envy this as a person, but see as a customer it is trying to get their costs down.  Hopefully they are passing some of these savings along to us…crickets…silence.  

 

They need to find more modern ways to compliment bike safety day at the school parking lot, reimbursement of fitness center memberships and defensive driver skills seminars. 

 

Social Media?  Bingo, I got Bingo!

 

Here’s how.  Insurance companies coulda/shoulda invest in social networks that aggregate danger points and a history of accidents and speed traps.  This would reduce accidents, i.e., costs the insurance companies pay out, and simplify their business model.  As a consumer, my rates should drop as I stay safer by avoiding these areas or pass through with caution.  How?  There are few tools on the market or in development right now.  Take a look at Trapster, used to map speed traps.  A similar device could be used for known accident zones and dangerous situations ahead.

The challenge insurance companies would face is themselves.  The adoption within their companies would be a challenge.  Advocating to their customers may not be so difficult though.  The selling point to customers is not complicated.  Invest in the development, offer them a discount point system to report the hotspots as the network is mapped and then reward the customer as they have safe driving records and build up mapping points.  Pretty simple in principle.

 

The power of the wolf is in the pack, not in the individual wolf (Bill Belichick, New England Patriots Head Coach – speaking to his team during training camp).  Social media is all about the pack.

 

Send this to your favorite insurance company and agent in hopes they will adopt the idea. 

How Social Media Helps in Emergency Management Situations

Living in the Northeast of the United States, many people think they are prepared for anything and can weather any type of storm.  Alas, I learned this past weekend even the mighty can be humbled. Parts of Massachusetts and New Hampshire were struck with an ice storm that devastated trees and left nearly 500,000 homes without power, and cable, phone and Internet services for over one week in many cases.  What is amazing is how unprepared most of all were in terms of basic needs.

Here is what I learned about how social media did help and could do more in the future. Local radio station, WTAG (AM 580) was broadcasting reports of what was happening in terms of emergency management, updates on power restoration, shelter info, school status and tips for residents to cope with the situation.  Much of the information was via text message and recorded audio interviews with local city and town officials. Sitting in my home awaiting even the slightest update on my town, I realized I was part of the largest social media experiment of my life.  The more I listened, the more I realized that there was so much more that could be done.

Here are few things to consider for future emergency management situations.   Communication is the key.  Take a look. 

• Radio station text messages are replaced with Twitter sites tied to a blog or Facebook account set up for each town.   Facebook will automatically update with these feeds.  People post info on your town and you follow the "tweets" or RSS Feeds.   You spend the time doing anything put being pinned to a radio station talking about your topic a few times a day.  It gets that desperate at times when such basic amenities are swept away.

• The power companies were pretty vague on the details of where they were working restore power.  This may have seemed like a wise PR move, but it backfired.  The public grew angry and lost patience with the very folks that held their fate in their hands.  Transparency is king in emergency management.  Tell us what is happening and let us deal with it.  Not knowing is the worst.  PR grade for the situation, fail.  Grade for hard work and persistence, A+. 

Please, if you take one thing away from this post is that I realized how generally helpless most of us are. I consider myself pretty resourceful and able to deal with the weather and touch situation (hey, I watch Bear Grills of course), but there were points were I wanted to just crawl into a hole and give up.

• If you have a fireplace, have enough wood for a few days 
• Fill your gas cans if you have a generator.  Fill them anyway if your neighbor has one
• Set yourself up for food to last at least a week on standard eating habits
• Store lots of water to drink Store even more water to operate your toilets
• Have plenty of batteries and flashlights that are wind-up charged - it is moral victory to have light
• Get a generator within your immediate family and have a plan
• Pay your mobile phone bill on time- it is your only lifeline to the outside world
• Remember that this is hopefully temporary. Life is going on around you
• Think of others nearby that may not be able to help themselves
• Visit your neighbors to see how you can help each other

Best of luck if you find yourself in this situation. Social media can help and will be a part of how emergency management is conducted as we all rely more and more on technology. We will expect the level of service to grow along with technology. My hats off to the fire, police, utility, DPW, Media, volunteers at shelters, and all others who made this not such a horrible experience.   For more examples of how some government agencies are using social media, check this out. 

What is your experience in this area?  I want to learn more and share the information.