A 2.0 Event That Actually Happened!

So for the last 3 weeks I have been working on making Mike Boss’ WordPress blog site ready for NECC in San Antonio. 

There were 3 things we wanted the site to provide:
1.  A holding place for our Caricature portraits -via Flickr
2.  A brief Utterz (audio & picture) of the interview Mike had just completed w/one of four major education publications
3. A mp3 Podcast from the above mentioned interview (btw: love Twitter, but look out! Here comes Utterz!)

For those that know me (and my skill set) know that I am not a programmer by ANY stretch of the word.  But what I do know is the message that we need to project and that there are certain apps that talk to other apps & I know that those apps can help us make a great first (public) blog!  I don’t want to be one of those “failed” blogs that Jeremiah has talked about recently!  I don’t FAIL well.
It took some time to research the best options, routes of delivery, a lot of testing and a few rounds of training…but we did it!
Wendy polished it off beautifully with her HTML knowledge & as we were heading out to Taco Friday today (on a Thursday) we said the look of the site reflected Mike’s laid back personality!  Couldn’t ask for a better representation!

So big thank you’s to:
Angela Lewton for giving us the green light to do something way outside the box of “normal”…
Wendy Fox for the beautiful skin
Mike Troverfor trusting me on putting the caricatures on Flickr that would be displayed on a site that would generate “repeat customers”
and MIKE BOSSfor your beautiful vision of what New Media means to you & expressing it so eloquently next to me: the over excited, “over-enthusiastic”, 2.0 passionate gal!

Have a GREAT 4th of July & stay tuned for our next baby step! 
-jen

Tac will be the first to have a flying car

My friend & former co-worker, Tac Anderson blows me away. When it comes to early adopters he is even beyond that title. If GM decides to open their truck plants back up to start building flying cars, Tac would be the first in line.

His latest posts he talks about FriendFeed and the multiple applications he uses to aggrigate all his conversations there.  Wow.  I am in awe of the technology that emerges every day so that we can all stay connected.  I can completly see the reason why forward thinking companies see understand the benefits of using new media tools to stay in contact with their customers.  In a downward, commodity-driven market the company that will emerge the winner will be the one with the best customer experience (notice I didn’t say service - that is toilet paper, we as consumers already expect superior service).  It is about releationships that are developed outside the 9-5 timeframe, you want to know someone as a human being, not just a customer. 

As for Tac’s flying car…by the time we all roll around to getting one he will have rocket shoes.

I challenge you to start with two communication tools outside a phone: a blog & a Twitter account.  Then we can let people like Tac rummage through discover the next best thing…and use what he used a year ago.

Are we ever going to use this stuff?

This is a post by the World Wide Media Director at HP, Scott Berg who answers a question that I receive a lot when in comes to New Media & the 2.0 world “are we ever going to use this stuff?”  The answer is simple, short & to the point…just my style!

The value of new media/social media/2.0…the internet in general is HUGE.  When companies realize that they HAVE to use this new technology, they might go kicking & screaming.  But after some education & insight, they will soon get it.

 

IN vs. AT Marketing

Michael Brito wrote a great post that talks about On LIne marketing changing a bit…

IN vs. AT Marketing

IN marketing is participating in conversations that costs a company time which will have long tail results.  Consumers will believe someone (a friend, collegue, a fellow community memeber) more than an ad…if feels more real, more trustworthy, more of a value to use someone/something that is recommended.

AT marketing is still trying to interrupt the consumer through banner ads, buying ad words etc.  I will go to AT marketing if I hear from a “friend” that there is good & valuable information at that particular online location. 

Your thoughts on IN vs AT Marketing?

ROI of Blogging

We (that would be the New Media/2.0 geeks) have a way to express the importance of Blogging, but here are some concrete thoughts from Chris Garrett on the ROI of Blogging & how to get there.

Attraction, Stickiness & Conversion.

In my eyes, these could be the “new 4 P’s” of marketing.

Enjoy!
-jen

Jennifer Jones has a pod cast that I love to watch called Marketing Voices.

Today she had Lisa Abbott, VP of Marketing at Ugobe.  Ugobe has a little robotic dinosaur named Pleo that has his own social network.  Owners of Pleo can upload pictures, comments and can even “plog”.

The best part and what I believe is VERY relevant for any company entering into the 2.0/New Media/Community space is that they were able to fix an issue w/in 4 hours of a customer bringing it to the engineers attention via their community Pleo site.  Lisa said 4-5 years ago an issue like this would have taken WEEKS if not MONTHS to take care of!  Instead, they saw the issue, taped the solution & put it on their site (and I believe YouTube as well)for other Pleo users to fix the small issue…all in about 4 hours.  Wow.

Toe Dipping into 2.0

Working for MPC I have brought with me my passion for marketing in the 2.0 world…which I truly believe can be integrated w/traditional marketing AS LONG as the messaging is consistant, not cheesy, smart, transparent & real (not too much to ask for, right?)

This is where companies miss the boat.  You just can’t dibble here and dabble there & expect instant results.  It is a build-up of generating community, trust & loyality with your customers (and your employees too!) then giving them MORE tools to assist you, the marketer, in spreading the word. 

Right now I am doing a lot of educating on why the marketing strategy has to include new media and what tools we should be using to get our message out.  I am also educating on the spirt of new media & how it is up to us to give our customers the right message for them to distribute in this new 2.0 world.  This is my biggest challenge, the consultant in my wants every aspect of marketing at MPC to have a 2.0 plan/focus…and it doesn’t…not yet.

What I know is that I have to focus on what I am doing & PLAN for the future.

I have this drive that wants to do a half nelson w/a tripple flip into the pool & change the world…yet, I am in the kiddie pool.  Right now the company is just learning how to dip their big toe in & get wet with the ongoing production of our community site.  I am looking forward to the day where I can be a trusted advisor on multiple projects & help decide what the best media mix & message can be for our customers to help spread the word…and of course help increase the bottom line.  (Im not a fool, I understand why I get a paycheck 2x/month )

In conclusion: there is a balance of new & traditional media that companies should incorporate into their media mix.  Toe dipping is a good way to get started & build trust…but eventually the high dive will call.

Google Yourself

One of my favorite bloggers & web 2.0 guru’s is Seth Goden, he is a plethera of knowledge!  If you have any responsibility what so ever in the marketing of your company (which we all do - don’t we Seth?) and not reading his books &  his blogs, you are way behind! 

Here is a great “todo” for 1.2.08 from Seth: Google Yourself!
My result? My LinkedIn Page…and if I digged a bit more…my college volleyball records.

Day One…

As the newest addition to MPC Corp’s marketing department, I bring quite a different background than your “traditional” marketer.
I was part owner in a grassroots marketing company based here in Boise that helps companies increase their word of mouth organically & through web 2.0.
My job here is to help with the ever increasing demand of offering a community site for vendors and members to communicate, collaborate and share content.

Goal: to grow MPC’s community site into a successful marketing tool.

Step 1: blog about it!
Step 2: research, research, research…and then blog about it.
Step 3: we will see tomorrow.