Zane Safrit

Twitter Co-Founder Biz Stone Talks

I find myself fascinated by Twitter and its community of users, the content found there, how it's used, not used, who uses it for what...And at the same time, I sometimes have the impression it's where the cool kids hang out. There's an unspoken (untweeted?) etiquette for posting, grammar, frequency, even a  little bit of a pecking order for who can comment on what topics.

Having said all that, I find it indispensable, really for broadening my networks, clarifying my thinking in real-time, showing me new uses of social media from people way out in front with its power and who've chosen to share their expertise with the community.

Here's a Q&A with Twitter's Biz Stone from Jennifer Leggio.

Link from Chris Brogan at, where else, Twitter.

Notes from Conversation with Jackie Huba

Here's some notes from my BlogTalk Radio show with Jackie Huba from The Swom and Church of the Customer.

• Word-of-mouth vs word-of-mouth marketing.  Word-of-mouth is a strategy; word-of-mouth marketing is a tactic. The first is a mission; the 2nd is an after-thought.

• DNA. Word of mouth is generated from the DNA of a company, when they give a reason or inspire their customers to talk about them, to volunteer to be their loyal sales force.

• Kudos to the person asking it. That's what Jackie answered when I asked her what’s so important about the Net Promoter Score from the Ultimate Question Survey. Ok, now what. You've found out the customer will/won't recommend you. Now what?

Exactly. Kudos to the person daring to ask a customer their opinion. Neither one of us are being facetious. Jackie pointed out so  many companies are scared to even talk to their customers, so let’s give kudos to the person asking it. That’s such a huge step. And once taken, you can’t really go back to ignoring the customer.

• Badge of Courage. Employees at Enterprise Rental wear their Net Promoter Score as a badge at company events. That shows how important it is. It’s measured and celebrated and heroes are made from that score. Heroes and careers.

• Customer Service is pro-active now. Using examples from Salesforce.com and their use of Yahoo Pipes (link and link) and  comcastcares at Twitter and Dell’s Ideastorm and blog response team, she points out that companies (the smart ones) are pro-actively seeking customer experience opportunities by engaging the customers where the customers live on social media.

• 4400 Tweets. Frank Aliason at Comcast began using Twitter (comcastcares ) to reach out to their customers. In less than 3 months he’s posted about 4400 tweets to Comcast customers in response to their needs for service.  That’s roughly over 1500 per month direct responses. Happy customers tend to tell 3-5 people about their experience. Now, multiply that message spread rate by the power of Twitter. And multiply it again by proactively reaching out to solve their issues before they become a dell hell-like firestorm.

• We are not an airline with great customer service. We are a great customer service organization that happens to be in the airline businessWe’re a customer service organization who just happens to fly airlines. - Colleen Barrett, CEO of Southwest Airlines. Church of the Customer Link

• Social networks’ growth comes from niche-markets, niche or specialized communities. Ning has over 250,000 communities. The most popular are very niche-oriented: firefighters, Lisa Nova (youtube), alumna, scrapbook makers.

• Employee Engagement Comes First. Dell built an EmployeeStorm internal community site to enlist their employees in creating solutions and understanding the need to reach out to their customers with the Ideastorm site. Very smart. See 2nd point about corporate DNA and its role in creating word-of-mouth.

• TheSWOM. Their current project. 835 members, great conversations from the members, great solutions for generating word-of-mouth from the members. And these solutions are happening nearly every day. And it's free. And it's helpful. Get over there. Become a member.

Thanks, Jackie.

The 3 C's of Word-of Mouth

Conversation. Conversion. Cash-flow.

Conversations > Conversions > Cash-flow

Change. It might be the 4th C.

Change in conversation (quality or quantity) > Change in Conversions > Change in Cash-flow.

You can't control the conversation. You can influence it. You can feed it material.

You use your cash to do that.  You can commit cash to create a product, an experience, a company, a day-to-day experience, that will fuel an inspiring conversation.

Change in uses of cash > Change in conversation> Change in conversions > Change in Cash-flow.

Or you cannot.

Either way, the cycle is perpetual.

Conversations > Conversions > Cash-flow...> Conversations > Conversions > Cash-flow...

The Three-C's of Word-of-Mouth.

Groundswell: Buy It

Ben and Jackie sent me a free copy of Groundswell last week. Ben and Jackie are Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba. They are the Grand Swomies behind The SWOM, The Society of Word of Mouth. And I’m a member of The SWOM, defined as one with aspirations of Swominess.

I was one of 5 members, aspirants, at The SWOM to receive a free copy of Groundswell.

I gotta confess right here. I hadn’t planned on buying Groundswell. I’d read about it. I’d read all the gushing praise for it; seen all the hype and buzz going on about it. All of it forming a veritable groundswell, if you will, of conversation about it.

Whatever. 

It’s the standard book of the moment, right? You know the kind? A fairly well-written book, better than I could write certainly, that articulates a hot trend that lasts a few fleeting moments, maybe 3-6 months and then disappears. And so does the book and its value.   

Academic at best. And after 6 months, I can’t say my life is better for having read it.

And the other thing, (baring my soul, now) is I’ve been blogging daily for 4 years now. I’ve done podcasts and YouTube. I get the part about customers controlling at least half of your brand. Word-of-mouth and great employees were the saving graces of the company where I was CEO. I’ve evangelized ‘em all. I GOT IT. My mission now is to get more companies using their resources, embracing their power, y’know?

And when I looked at the book's cover I thought…And you’re going to tell me…what?

That’s what I thought. (Ok, I tend to be judgmental and I can be quick to judge. And sometimes I’m wrong, sometimes REALLY wrong.)

I was REALLY wrong with Groundswell. Maybe, not 180 degrees wrong. But a good 165 degrees, definitely.

Groundswell…where to begin. It’s well-written. It’s pace is pleasing, satisfying. The authors clearly love their topic. Their writing shares their love of social media, and in a measured, intelligent way.  It's captivating, engaging. THough they're doing all the talking, somehow you're part of the conversation, contributing to it in someway as you read their words.

And they weave in data with stories or profiles of company’s experiences with the groundswell.

That I admire. It shows they’re masters of their area. It’s a labor of love, really, that, they can weave back and forth from data to specific stories or anecdotes and weave me into their story.

They’re not looking to grandstand on this thing called social media,  citizens media, grassroots media…ride the wave to a couple of speaking gigs and be gone. No, they’re adding usable intelligence and profiles and actionable suggestions. They’re adding value to this conversation about the conversation. And…and…not only that but they use those examples and data to then push the conversation further and eventually ending up with a plan whose basics any company of any size in any industry could implement. OMG. Yes. They not only describe the trend to you, they walk you through all the cool resources you've maybe never heard of, splashcast and buzzillions, but then shows you how you CAN use them to join, foster, ride this groundswell for fun and profit!

Sure, they’re going to reap the rewards from their book and their employers will be very happy, too.

But these rewards will be greater for offering insight and help for those companies still looking to understand what’s changed, what’s not changed (them, probably) and how to listen to their customers and employees and connect with them. And that’s a very, very good thing for them as companies and for their employees, for their customers, too. For all of us.

I hate being proved wrong. On the other hand, I love taking a position and learning what I overlooked and having that ‘aha’ moment when I see things more clearly, more broadly.

That’s what Groundswell did for me. And I’m thinking…it’ll do the same thing for you.

Thanks, to Ben and Jackie for the sending me one of 5 free copies of Groundswell. Thanks to Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff for your love of this topic and being so articulate in sharing it with us.  Now, go enjoy your just rewards!

(Written in the dark with no internet connection while a morning storm passes…)

Update:

Groundswell mini-site

Their blog

The Power of You (as measured and controlled by us)

Time-Warner announced their new metered-use internet service plan for the lucky residents of Beaumont, Texas. From TechCrunch.

Time-Warner's slogan now  is The power of you. After today, for the residents of Beaumont, it should say The Power of You (as measured and controlled by us).

The power of innovation that's been unleashed until now in the US with internet access is what's opened the doors to opportunities and startups and competition and innovation, regardless of locale. It's a level playing field that's benefited everyone. THAT's what's unleashed the power of you. And not a single corporate provider.

And now by limiting it, by controlling it and metering it ...they serve only to  control (stifle) this power of innovation and creativity and enterpreneurship...they seek to become the gatekeepers of small business, the jobs they create, our ability to compete globally...

Yeah, it is that big a deal, especially for small business, startups and small communities. You know, those places where over 50% of new jobs are created.

I'm blessed in many ways. One way is our community's commitment to bringing fiber to each home. 1/4 of the town has it now. We'll have ours later this summer. Let's measure the job growth in each town, Fairfield and Beaumont, over the next few years. For job growth, my money's on my town.

Ironically, not as in funny irony, but the kind of irony that makes you get...agitated, we've, all of us,  maybe already paid for fiber to the home. From TechDirt: You've Already Paid...

Jeff De Cagna Interviews Charlene Li

A great interview between Jeff De Cagna of Principled Innovation Podcast and Charlene Li, author of Groundswell: winning in a world transformed by social technologies.

The key point for me from the interview is:

Concentrate on the relationship not on the technologies.

Where'd I find this? Through Jeff's comment at The Swom, The Society of Word of Mouth, in response to Warren Whitlock's question:

What do you think? Can a company survive if they refuse to listen to the conversation?

It's the relationships...

Another dustup on the blogosphere about new technologies, what's it mean, who's a blogger 1.0, 2.0, does Twitter signal the end blogging or of even writing in complete sentences with sometimes somewhat correct grammar...some claiming this is the end, the end, my friend....

I have to chuckle a bit. The fluttery, breathless, tone to the discussions, raises the concerns to an almost armaggedon-like level.

Here in our little town, the conversations have moved from KC Diner and Chuck's Grill up through the late 70's to Taylor's Off-Broadway Grill to gas station/convenience store combos and then to the coffee shops with excellent pastries. (You know a trend's peaking when it hits Fairfield.) Each is its own community with their preferences for coffees and pastries and company and conversations. Occassionally one community  member wanders over to another community. Then starts another dustup of worry and breathless titters that the former community may be coming to an end. What with the better croissants over at Revelations or the better, but infinitely slower coffee at Cafe Paradiso.

Some of the community 1.0 members worry that the town's changing...and it's all going to hell and donuts were just fine...to dunk in your Maxwell House coffee, thank you very much. But, soon they show up at 2nd Street Cafe for some machine-made capuccino and to see what free wireless is really about.

They, we, often end up telling the same stories from the same perspective, drawing the same conclusions. Some call it wisdom of the crowds or mob mentality, group think or peer pressure.

Just like on the blogosphere.

All the time the conversations just keep going. And they keep going for the same reasons conversations continue in the blogosphere. People want to talk. People like to differentiate themselves. People like to bond and find community. And the ebb and flow of all these resources and folks' passion for them  ...have enabled the conversation to be in new places as Louis Gray's post, Blogging 2.0 Causing Friction with 1.0 Bloggers points out.

And whether it's donuts and machine-made capuccino...or Friendfeed and 140-character blog posts, the only important element is that another media, medium, place, spot, resource, community...exists to continue to have the conversation and explore and create and think and argue and clarify.  And the opportunity to leave and find another pastry, real or virtual, continues to exist so we can differentiate, separate and form up again.

More Thoughts for Twitter's Business Case

From Social Media Group blog, A Business Case for Twitter explains how Twitter can be leveraged (in non-evil ways) as part of an on-going and comprehensive social media strategy.

Maybe the most concise, crisp, thoughts on Twitter's use....Maybe that's why Social Media Group is such a force helping businesses navigate the world of web 2.0.

Twitter's Power is ...

Twitter's community. And it's built around the easy, simple, 140-character limit to its post, its immediacy and its reach. Yawn....buzzwords. Hate 'em.

Anita Campbell shares her story of how she used Twitter to find a graphic designer.

From her post, here's the sizzle, the steak and the Heinz 57 for Twitter:

It took me about 15 minutes of time to compose a short message on Twitter, copy and paste the responses into two emails I sent to my colleague, and respond back to those who sent referrals with quick “thank yous.” And for that, I was able to get 10 word of mouth recommendations.

Imagine if I had tried to do that via telephone or individual emails. I’d still be waiting for responses — and I would have spent considerably more time.

15 minutes. 10 referrals. All from trusted, vetted, known friends and colleagues...aka your community.

That's what community is about. That's what Word-of-Mouth is about. That's what the conversation is about. And that's the power of social media with tools like Twitter.

Disclaimer: In the graphic on Anita's post is my Tweet to Anita and my recommended designer. I also write a small business expert column with others at Anita's SmallBizTrend site.

Here's BusinessWeek's take on Twitter.

Here's how to pitch me.

Paul Chaney from Conversational Marketing lays it out for PR firms, etal  on how's the best way for a PR firm to pitch me or any blogger on their project.

And he brings in added thoughts from a few other seasoned bloggers and their posts from...ahem, 2004. 4 years in blogging social media is essentially a generation, if not a lifetime, of learning.

So...somewhere, somehow, some of these tips and recommendations should be common practice now in the PR industry.

These aren't high-level skills we're talking about:  open-source coding tips or how to create RSS feeds simultaneously defending life and limb on public transportation and twittering about the event at the same time, shooting a video and uploading it to YouTube and checking your friendfeeds.... These are pretty straight-forward common-sense, common-courtesy tips for even the most basic email campaigns.

That is, if they're listening...

Exactly.

Paul's pretty polite about the whole thing unlike some others. I'm of two minds on the thing. I just shake my head, laugh darkly and mutter something in the privacy of my office. Besides bald heads, Paul and I share a dearth of such pitches.

However, our embrace-ratio would significantly increase (that's a good thing PR folks) if some of these tips in Paul's post, and others, were followed.

Ultimately, I think the marketplace will shake it out.

Tactics like public blacklists are the signs of a long-standing pattern of disrespect and a lack of communication. Personally, I like them. Call people out if they're not listening. People rarely remember the numerous times you were patient, kind, repititive, clear, consistent, logical, direct. Stop wasthing time. You've earned the moment. Put them in a web 2.0 version of public stocks where we can all hurl tomatoes at them and their communiques for an extended period, maybe until the next offender arrives.

Or maybe blog about them. I mean...the PR firm DID ask you to promote them...right? It's your blog and your time. You're not gettin' paid for it...

But remember, based on my experience, you look bad, mean and venal, for doing that. Justified, yes. Satisfied? Oh, yes, baby. But you look bad.

So, unless you want to look bad but feel satisfied, stop wasting time with them.

And in the meantime, set up an email rule for repeat offenders, ignore the others and let's get on with it.

Pretty soon those PR firms who can't get tricky social media norms, norms like common courtesy and personalized emails, will no longer generate results for their clients. While those that can embrace the idea of a few moments to research a blogger's interest and then tailor their pitch to them....will find more business than they can shake a string of twhirls at.

And we'll all be happy with that outcome.

(Satisfied...maybe. But definitely happy.)