On Being and Nothingness
Living in Chicago, you kind of forget how small you are.
Sounds kind of weird to say when you live in a city of 3 million+ people. But it really is in seclusion that you remembr how small we really are.
When I was a child, we would drive out into cornfields and watch the night sky. Meteorite watching, planet hunting and shuttle spotting. I’m talking 40-50 miles south of Chicago in the mid 70s. The city was not nearly as bright as it is now... but it was there, and so very close. But meteorites appeared aplenty and I could always tell you which planets were making a guest appearance on a given night. This was one of my major quests as a child and instilled the first answer to the question “what do you want to be when you grow up?” Astronaut was the main goal in those days.
My world travels have taken me to all points of the globe, but none very removed from a major city. The closest I’ve come to being in the desert was Las Vegas, which is much too bright to view the night sky. The light of cruise ships didn’t help stargazing even in the Caribbean. And Rome or Paris, being so brightly, lit were not good planet viewing venues
Nay, it is being 160 miles (~100 as the crow flies) from Chicago, on a major body of water. Major, being a great lake... Lake Michigan to be precise. And on the edge of the woods.
A friend invited me to his family’s cottage near Grand Haven, Michigan, where conveniences are well within reach... but far enough away to be nearly *remote*. And being on the lakefront added to the reclusiveness of it all. Of course we filled the cottage with lively inhabitants. Many of whom, we’ve known for years. So the waking hours were filled with laughter, conversation and revelry.
But at the end of one particularly lovely day. One in which we walked up the beach into town to partake in local events, sightsee, buy trinkets, relax and generally be tourists, many of the weekend’s guests shuffled off to bed early... er... “early”, exhausted from the fresh air and activity.
As I bogarted images off digital cameras and downloaded videos from the weekend to create a keepsake DVD, I found myself the lone creature skulking about the house at this hour. I dimmed all the lights in the house and bundled up to face the chilly May breeze and staged a small sit-in on the cottage’s back porch.
In this midst of this solitude it reminded me of how small I really am.
The only sound is the breeze in the trees... the crashing of the waves... and my own heartbeat. Smell of fresh lake water... spring foliage... and the wood of neighboring cottages.
As my eyes adjusted to the darkness I was struck by how vast the lake is. Yes, it’s a lake, not an ocean. And although you *may* see a dim light from Milwaukee across the lake, it really does seem as if you are peering into an abyss.
But the most spectacular... and, I am sorry to say, most *forgotten* sight were the stars. They weren’t a “is that an airplane?”... or “what is that bright spot? oh, it must be a planet” type sightings. They truly were there hanging just above my head... DOZENS of them!
This is not a “camping in the outback” type epiphany... but an “I’ve been amongst the bright lights of the city and forgot about stars” realization. Twinkling. Bright. Steady. Constant.
There they were. In patterns for me to try to decipher. Or just to admire. Hanging above my head. As they have always been. And will always be.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
Finding Value in Social Media Marketing
FINDING VALUE IN SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
No doubt you’ve heard of MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and the variety of other social media sites available at our current moment in time.
Twitter, arguably, is the flavor of the week with it’s recent outing on Oprah as well as Ashton Kutcher’s campaign to reach 1 million followers before CNN reached the same goal.
The question lies in the value of these sites.
It can be agreed that for social communication, if you are only following friends and only friends are following you, then yes, you’re going to get that all important question answered by your friends, which is “What are they doing right now?” In addition, they might post a news story or photos of the new baby or other information that might interest you as well.
SOCIAL MARKETING
The recent trend, however, has turned towards marketing on the social media sites. As a marketing professional, my clients, friends and even my mom have asked me about the value in marketing on Twitter. I have my own thoughts on the subject. My own theories. My own predictions. But I was interested to hear from individuals trying to market their small [or large] sized business on social media.
I was recently asked to host @Firgs’ (of Design by Firgs) chat on Twitter. This is a chat which I frequently participate in and it covers topics on graphic design, web development, technology, social media and marketing, etc. all of which Mint Condition is involved in. I find it an interesting and useful networking forum where I can share opinions with other creative professionals on a given topic. So, the question I posted as the host of the chat is “What is the value of marketing on Twitter?”
The results were clear. Most of the creative professionals I talked to don’t use Twitter as a marketing tool. Most use it as info gathering, i.e., retweets, articles, etc. It just doesn’t seem to be a great ROI (your investment being your time). For example, if you charge a client $75 per hour for your time and you’re spending four hours a day on Twitter marketing your business, are you getting a return on investment of that time?
I think in most cases, the answer is NO… and here’s why.
THE DEGRADATION OF TWITTER
First, it appears that Twitter has become a popularity contest. To be able to say “I have 20,000 followers reading my tweets on whatever mundane tasks I’m performing during my normal life” is something of a bragging rite. Therefore, the value of these tweets certainly comes into question… if they were ever interesting to begin with.
Second, if you’re following people en masse, solely to get them to follow you, you risk losing those followers by posting something that is not relevant to them, because you have not targeted directly to them. In addition, if people are following you only because they follow everyone who is following them, chances are they are not reading all of the tweets that come across their deck… so they’re not reading yours.
The ultimate goal is to find your target market. Get the right followers following you so they can benefit from information about your service or product. Your business model tells you who your target market is. Find them, offer them something relevant and the response surely will follow.
Third, the majority of mass followers are mass marketers. Your marketing tweets are falling on the deaf ears of other marketers and in most cases they are mass marketers. There is nothing more annoying than being tweetspammed by some tweep posting 12 tweets in a row with info ranging from a fat burning pill, to the latest hair growth product. These people immediately get unfollowed on my Twitter.
VALUE
Finally, and certainly not the least of these is VALUE. Make your tweets valuable. Just because it’s free doesn’t mean it has to be fodder. Tweet as if it’s a paid ad. Make it not only relevant, but valuable.
Use your experience and insight to craft a meaningful article for publication and point your followers to it. Blog relevantly and intelligently. Position yourself as an expert so your product or service becomes a highly sought after commodity. Create something valuable to contribute to the world (perhaps a chat like @Firgs does). Because in the end, it’s value which will prevail.
UNGRACEFUL DEMISE
Unfortunately, our world (and especially our cyber world) is full of uneducated, irresponsible marketers trying to find a quick, easy and cheap way to get people to spend their money on valueless products. Because of this, my prediction is that Twitter will die an ungraceful death in a ball of tweetspammers hawking miracle products to each other.
Jennifer “Mintie” Scanland is the Creative Director and CEO of Mint Condition Creative Solutions in Chicago. You can follow @MintCondCreativ on Twitter.
No doubt you’ve heard of MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and the variety of other social media sites available at our current moment in time.
Twitter, arguably, is the flavor of the week with it’s recent outing on Oprah as well as Ashton Kutcher’s campaign to reach 1 million followers before CNN reached the same goal.
The question lies in the value of these sites.
It can be agreed that for social communication, if you are only following friends and only friends are following you, then yes, you’re going to get that all important question answered by your friends, which is “What are they doing right now?” In addition, they might post a news story or photos of the new baby or other information that might interest you as well.
SOCIAL MARKETING
The recent trend, however, has turned towards marketing on the social media sites. As a marketing professional, my clients, friends and even my mom have asked me about the value in marketing on Twitter. I have my own thoughts on the subject. My own theories. My own predictions. But I was interested to hear from individuals trying to market their small [or large] sized business on social media.
I was recently asked to host @Firgs’ (of Design by Firgs) chat on Twitter. This is a chat which I frequently participate in and it covers topics on graphic design, web development, technology, social media and marketing, etc. all of which Mint Condition is involved in. I find it an interesting and useful networking forum where I can share opinions with other creative professionals on a given topic. So, the question I posted as the host of the chat is “What is the value of marketing on Twitter?”
The results were clear. Most of the creative professionals I talked to don’t use Twitter as a marketing tool. Most use it as info gathering, i.e., retweets, articles, etc. It just doesn’t seem to be a great ROI (your investment being your time). For example, if you charge a client $75 per hour for your time and you’re spending four hours a day on Twitter marketing your business, are you getting a return on investment of that time?
I think in most cases, the answer is NO… and here’s why.
THE DEGRADATION OF TWITTER
First, it appears that Twitter has become a popularity contest. To be able to say “I have 20,000 followers reading my tweets on whatever mundane tasks I’m performing during my normal life” is something of a bragging rite. Therefore, the value of these tweets certainly comes into question… if they were ever interesting to begin with.
Second, if you’re following people en masse, solely to get them to follow you, you risk losing those followers by posting something that is not relevant to them, because you have not targeted directly to them. In addition, if people are following you only because they follow everyone who is following them, chances are they are not reading all of the tweets that come across their deck… so they’re not reading yours.
The ultimate goal is to find your target market. Get the right followers following you so they can benefit from information about your service or product. Your business model tells you who your target market is. Find them, offer them something relevant and the response surely will follow.
Third, the majority of mass followers are mass marketers. Your marketing tweets are falling on the deaf ears of other marketers and in most cases they are mass marketers. There is nothing more annoying than being tweetspammed by some tweep posting 12 tweets in a row with info ranging from a fat burning pill, to the latest hair growth product. These people immediately get unfollowed on my Twitter.
VALUE
Finally, and certainly not the least of these is VALUE. Make your tweets valuable. Just because it’s free doesn’t mean it has to be fodder. Tweet as if it’s a paid ad. Make it not only relevant, but valuable.
Use your experience and insight to craft a meaningful article for publication and point your followers to it. Blog relevantly and intelligently. Position yourself as an expert so your product or service becomes a highly sought after commodity. Create something valuable to contribute to the world (perhaps a chat like @Firgs does). Because in the end, it’s value which will prevail.
UNGRACEFUL DEMISE
Unfortunately, our world (and especially our cyber world) is full of uneducated, irresponsible marketers trying to find a quick, easy and cheap way to get people to spend their money on valueless products. Because of this, my prediction is that Twitter will die an ungraceful death in a ball of tweetspammers hawking miracle products to each other.
Jennifer “Mintie” Scanland is the Creative Director and CEO of Mint Condition Creative Solutions in Chicago. You can follow @MintCondCreativ on Twitter.
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