I had several photographers better than my self give me so good critique on the photo, I would welcome yours.

My favorites of this scene really hinge around the subject. Her pose and face are calm and reassuring, the fireplace mellows the scene.  My dislikes: I could have done a better job with the food arrangement.

I welcome your thoughts.

I see two possible outcomes to this argument.

Outcome One:

From a consumer’s perspective, we don’t engage on social mediums to be sold, but to be entertained.  When I engaged with the media source, I was expecting news, not a plug for a business.  My first reaction was hollow.  I read the feed thinking I was getting something new in the entertainment medium of news, only to see something I wasn’t expecting. Noise. Noise that did not match the voice I was expecting to hear.  The respect of a news media source was now altered to sell.  Puristically, I expected news, reality was they had to pay the bills too.  Which brings me to my point: If you are going to alter your voice for revenue – before we stake our spile into a holy sap tree for syrupy goodness and yes, we all do it – your voice needs to be protected.  There is only so much sap in that holy tree, are you willing to sacrifice your established voice for a new tone?

Outcome Two:

From a media outlet’s point of view the revenue stream cannot be ignored. Creating revenue in empty space is always a good deal for the provider.  During slow business times, in this case news, we can add tweets to the stream and call them #­­­­deals and use the extra band width to promote brands and increase revenue.  Plenty of small businesses would be willing to engage on their feed, insert the spile and hook into the fresh tap and see what the investment produces. It makes fiscal sense – to both parties.  One party taps the source of syrupy goodness, the other prays the circle of influence will drop the sugary-wow into the revenue bucket.  I can see the benefits for both parties.

Inserting the spile into your circle of influence needs to be done tenderly and judiciously without killing the social tree.

So what would I do?

Edgar Allen Poe had a brilliant insight when he shared:

“The nose of a mob is its imagination. By this, at any time, it can be quietly led.” (click to Tweet this quote)

I think Edgar brings a marvelous insight into how social media works.  Stories.  Social news can be enhanced with the same revenue stream by creating stories around advertisers to stir up interest without losing your voice to the plug, a gentler way of tapping with the spile.

Practical Application:

Interview the sponsor and share life stories about them.  Call it what it is, a deal, so there is no perception of manipulation but make them seem real and not another stale business offering. Stories will help us connect with the person first, then we will connect with the business. Social Media is Micro-Marketing and can reach effectively.  Stories  make the difference in revenue, social change, news and perceptions.  Use stories to quietly lead.

This is my opinion of how to insert the spile, what is yours?

The conversation keeps going on here and on Twitter @acparkz 

Great question demanding a worthy answer.

Amazon seems to do quite fine without handshakes. Some e-tailers seem to do fine as well…so not every business needs handshakes, but…all businesses require trusting relationships.  Trust in business is a huge issue. No question about it. For small business, the economic engine of society and the focus of this post, I see handshakes as indispensable. The ability to look someone in the eyes and see competency and capability resound beyond what service we provide or the product we sell. Trust resounds transactions into loyalty.

As a new media provider I have seen how a digital presence and social media can help enhance trust, but it cannot replace the trust a physical handshake can provide. 

The purpose of digital, as I see it, is to lead prospective buyers down the path of trust.  Digital provides the consumer with the ability to touch taste and see before committing or exposing themselves and their need.  Digital acts as the guide, the map designed to direct physical touch helps seal the deal.  You new media strategy and your digital strategy need to lead people to a touch point.

Create the touch point. Look people in the eyes & shake their hand.

What are your thoughts?  I would love to hear from you.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 1,900 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 3 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

Go ahead, be social.

Adding a splash of humanity into your marketing campaign is worth the distraction from the marketing schedule.  The detour may not spell immediate ROI for your business, but will play a determining role in profits.  As you can see in the picture I took for one of my clients, there is no marketing message represented in this picture.  Or is there?  I say there is .

Marketing is more than just pushing product. Marketing is also about connecting with the soul of humanity.  (tweet this quote: Click Here)

We may buy a product because of a perceived need, but we won’t maintain loyalty to that product unless we connect beyond performance.  Connecting will require we schedule a few moments where ROI does not determine the decision; a moment where analytics and marketing message are set aside and taking charge is reduced down to connecting with humanity.

So, how do we connect?

The same innocent way we make friends – by creating conversations that are intentional and with purpose.  In the case of the picture above we used a tradition that has been around since the 1960’s and tweaked it for today.  So far this campaign has helped increase conversations, build trust and mold perception.  We truly mean to be transparent with our marketing and plan.  We do intend to sell, but we also intend to build our market with trust and loyalty.

Go a head.  Connect with your customers. You will change people’s perspective and drive emotional connections in positive way.

Contiguity is a new media marketing, branding and strategy provider in Richmond Virginia.
Blodget, H. (2012) ‘Guess What Percent Of Black Friday Online Sales Came From Twitter Referrals?’ Business Insider p.1. http://www.businessinsider.com/black-friday-online-sales-from-twitter-referrals-2012-11#ixzz2DIGGmO5C [accessed 25 November, 2012]

Social Media Requires Strategy and Intelligent Design to be Effective.

(Tweet this Quote: Salesaddict.org says, “Social Media Requires Strategy and Intelligent Design to be Effective.” )

In 2007 my first bout with social began with me impersonating a company I was working for on Facebook.  After loading all the logos and graphics I could I started interacting and learned very quickly I had made a mistake.  Ahhhh, the innocence of a social media virgin is so – adolescent, youthful, naïve. I peered onto the business page, choked and found solace in listing the business on a personal page. I say I choked, because in reality I was scared to run my virtual profile naked through the cybernetic streets of social media. My own profile on Facebook? Impossible.  Fanatical.  Revolutionary – Social Media was for teens, and I was in my 30’s.

Now is the time to change. Confess your social sins and alter your social strategy in an effective way.  What I found out was simply social. 

People want to connect with people first.

(Tweet This: Salesaddict.org says, “people want to connect with people first” )

I found out people wanted to connect with me personally before they connected with my business.  People wanted to see my eyeballs, my face, understand my personality, decide if they could trust me, then follow my brand.  Some small businesses, like realtors, may never get traction off of business pages, but will get significant traction off of their own personal pages. Restaurants, builders, real estate brokerage companies, mechanics, plumbers, retail and other providers need business pages to sell their services and wares.  The power comes in playing the personal page with my face on it together with the business page for synergy and momentum.  I sold over $8M in luxury real estate between 2007-12, it works.  I have plenty of reasons why, experience being the first.

Contiguity is a digital media company dedicated to exposing the soul of your company and creating revenue socially.