What Is An Expert?
What is an expert? Is it a guru? Is it someone who has thought deeply on the subject? Or is it someone who has actually performed work and generated results? So many people today are scrambling to become a social media experts, then it’s quite confusing to businesses looking for talented help. The reality in social media, as with any burgeoning industry or trade, there are none. Or at least, there are only a handful who truly have the skills, but will never call themselves experts. I’ve really enjoyed Christopher S. Penn’s explanation...
Read MoreGaining Consensus – Why?
A challenging part of employing social media concepts within an organization or large company is getting everyone to agree. With so many parties with differing interests, one wonders how things ever get done. I’d like to posit the idea that consensus is not required to explore the opportunities that social media present. Sure, you may (or should) gain approval from the group you’re working with, getting the every executive, or department, or business unit’s buy in just won’t happen. At least not in the timeframe you’ll need to reap some of the rewards of...
Read MoreThe ‘Un’ Sell
There’s a perspective that we take in social media that has many qualities and discussions around it and I’ve been starting to use a name or label for it: the unsell. The idea behind the unsell is that you really aren’t selling at all, but rather letting the product or service speak for itself. Past the initial “hey, I’ve got this product/service, what do you think of it†pitch, the idea that quality sells itself is key. Through organic word of mouth, the quality or potential of what you have is what sells it. This is the classic...
Read MoreRun a blog? You’re a Community Manager too!
So you’ve got a blog, or maybe a Facebook page, or another profile on a social network or new media site somewhere out there. Do you regularly post or update it? If so, it’s likely you have a community around it, whether or not you realize it. You may have people who want to learn from you or share ideas with you. Are you prepared to take on that opportunity? You should because these folks are your greatest fans and can be part of your own brand/PR army that goes out doing the grass-roots efforts you would never think of. Its especially critical for businesses...
Read MoreWhat Open Really Means
It’s hard to be a medium or large corporation these days. The demands are not small, with expectations of investors, disappointing market performance, employee needs, government regulations and oversight… there’s almost no time left for the most important part of any business: customers. Of course, that’s where the current craze around social media comes in. The expectation is that any company can use all sorts of free tools to stretch marketing and PR dollars, and maybe make the customer feel more welcome picking up your brand at Wal-Mart. But that...
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About Me
Rick Mahn is the Founder of SMBMSP, Principal of Rick Mahn & Associates, and a Sr. Information Technologies Architect with Experis. With over two decades in Information Technologies Architecture and Social Media, Rick connects people & organizations by embracing new technologies and open standards.Learn more about Rick.
