Posts tagged as:

Jason Falls

Buzz and the Art of Innovation

by Daria Steigman on November 11, 2010

Innovation, Social Media, GrowSmartBiz | Independent Thinking | Steigman Communications, llcYou couldn’t have a GrowSmartBiz* conference in 2010 without talking about social media, innovation, and the role of buzz in your marketing arsenal. And the panel at last Friday’s conference didn’t disappoint, offering good insights and smart tips:

  • Jason Falls suggested that the best innovation might be to “simplify our thinking” and go back to having a small business, small town mindset. He pointed out that people don’t do business with Allstate, but with Shirley; they don’t buy a car from Ford or GM, but from Tom. Falls also talked about blogging with purpose, noting that “if your Web site shows up [in search results] and you solve someone’s problem, you [both] win.”
  • Praba Murugaiah emphasized the importance of identifying your high-value customers. (Think, for example, of Sprint, which fired 1,000 customers who were using a disproportionately high percentage of the company’s customer service resources.)
  • Jeremy Epstein said that businesses need to be more concerned with the implications of various tools (i.e., how might I implement a blogging strategy?) than with the tools themselves. He also noted that, in thinking about how small businesses can cost-effectively get the word out, “viral is the effect, not the cause.” And he offered a terrific tip for small businesses: A flip cam (or your smartphone) can be a great customer relationship tool. His advice: talk to your customers and put the videos up on YouTube. Even if no one else sees them, they will. (And most customers will tell their family, friends, and colleagues.)
  • Duncan Alney said that your content strategy must be focused on  what your customers, clients, and prospects think is important (and not just what you think matters). He also had perhaps my favorite line from the conference, noting that social media usage is not age-based but rather reflected in a “mindset generation.”

Were you at GrowSmartBiz? What takeaways would you add?

*Disclosure: Comped admission; but choice to blog and what to write about are all me.

Photo by Shashi Bellamkonda, Social Media Swami, Network Solutions (Flickr).

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Is Your Brand Limiting You?

by Daria Steigman on September 30, 2010

Branding, Business | Independent Thinking | Steigman Communications, llcI read this interesting post recently about the difference between building your name and branding your business. It looked at Chris Brogan (who’s arguably more recognizable for his personal brand than for his company) and Jason Falls (who is perhaps better known via his company, Social Media Explorer, than as a brand personality).

Of course both guys, like most savvy small business owners, are branding both.

What resonated in this post was this paragraph:

Another very real concern is that things and names change.  Social Media Explorer might be the right name at the right time, but if things continue to evolve, it will be far easier for Chris Brogan to pivot. Proving that you are a person of ideas and that you have the ability to execute is far more important than having a catchy brand that people can remember.  It also lets you reinvent yourself as the world changes around you.

You see, this happened to me.

My first company name, Policy Writing and Reporting Services, was both accidental (it was the title page for my first brochure) and very descriptive of what I did. But then I expanded my services, and it was too limiting. So I re-branded to capture two elements: the broader scope of communications services and the fact that people trusted me–knowledge, capabilities, expertise, reputation.

Is your brand working for you or limiting opportunities for your business to grow?

Photo by Ray Phua (Flickr).

Have you signed up to receive the Independent Thinking newsletter? Now’s the time! Once a month I’ll send you exclusive, subscriber-only content highlighting interesting articles I’ve found, as well as tips on marketing, social media, and how to grow your business. Sign up today!

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Can Data Democracy and Access Transform Your Business?

by Daria Steigman on November 6, 2009

Open Access

The good news about having to abruptly leave a conversation is that you keep pondering the unfinished thought. For me, that conversation was Tuesday’s hashtagsocialmedia tweetchat, organized by Marc Meyer and moderated by Jason Falls.

The topic was Twitter and, when I cut out, people were having a vigorous discussion around Twitter’s value to business. I’d offered two key values for me: the ability to crowdsource quickly and globally; and ambient discovery (of people, information, and ideas). But I left something out, and it’s really important.

Web 1.0 led to data democratization. One consequence is that small businesses, including mine, finally had access to a lot of information that previously was only available (without a long lag time) to organizations with deep pockets. The amount of information was minute compared to what we see stream by on Twitter every minute–but it was the starting point.

Now Web 2.0 is leading to the democratization of access, as people can identify, reach out, and talk to everyone from athletes to rock stars to CEOs. Twitter’s helping to facilitate that.

What do you think: Are data and access leveling the playing field? How can you use these to transform your business?

Photo by biblioteekje (Flickr).

Have you signed up to receive the Independent Thinking newsletter? Now’s the time! Once a month I’ll send you exclusive, subscriber-only content highlighting interesting articles I’ve found, as well as tips on marketing, social media, and how to grow your business. Sign up today!

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