Time 25:00

I scheduled this interview with Livingston to talk about his book Welcome the Fifth Estate, but issues surrounding Google+ rose to a higher level so we talk both in this podcast. And yes we do get into the online differences between Livingston and Chris Brogan, two friends of mine.

First the book and the idea of making your corporate culture receptive to being open. This is the issue of restructuring organizations to be nimble enough in a fast paced, socially engaged environment. This involves two issues:

1) Can you speak about the issues surrounding your organization without having your organization be the focus of that conversation? This paradigm is critical to your organization’s future credibility and the ability to build a community that will expend energy on your behalf. 
 Think like you were an embeded journalist in your company.

2) The social web has no geography or silos, can your organization and its processes accommodate this very different structure?

Google + Observations

• Use it as a person, nothing like getting in the pool and judging for your self whether the water is cold or not.
• Hangouts are very useful, even for a quick video group call with Grandma. And yes just because your brand can’t use it, 10 people can collaborate from your global offices.
• Circles can serve as a Yammer-like platform, remember Yammer?
• +1 can serve as a voting function for more than my comedy posts, for example your ad campaign slogans, designs, food at the office party.
• Bottom line, use it as an individual building your network and seeing through your own work processes how it can benefit

Google + Dust Up

This story is moving fast, suffice it to say here. Google + for business is a lot like the history of the Oklahoma land grab. Just as I post this here is an update on Google booting brands off + and NBC News left Google + but are keeping their reporters on.



As soon as the invites were flowing, businesses opened pages claiming we know Google +. Some by being insiders like Mashable, others by spending hundreds of hours in the + playground. All this despite Google not having an official business policy other than “no brands allowed,” yet.

It’s getting ugly because social is a maturing business. Plenty of individuals in this space are businesses, me included. I am for hire and I am on Google+ and I do know more about it than someone who has not been on Google+. The rub is that brands are being told they can’t play on Google+ (as of this writing) , but in an era of personal brands, how is that possible to not be on. For example, in the social web, Scott Monty is Ford, Jeremiah Owyang is Altimeter Group, etc. etc.

This is a confusing and rapidly changing issue, with some major camps of difference. Livingston and Brogan, two guys I admire greatly for what they have given to the community and me, have sparred over how to monetize their expertise. Brogan this week produced a webinar for how business should prepare to use Google+. Another friend of mine, Jen Kane once called me Switzerland because I get along with folks so I feel uniquely qualified to be in the middle of this Kerfluffel

Here’s my take, this is the result of the “free” economy of information which resides in a mostly socialist state with individuals contributing to a larger community each benefiting each other, while the same individuals responsible for the information reside in a capitalist financial state who some how must monetize a portion of that same information.

It comes down to how you package what may well be available for free, how you add value to that information through analysis or experience, and whether the market is willing to pay for that package. An example in free and paid information of the same topic is software training programs. I get a tutorial and support forums where users offer their experience freely with most software I purchase. However, there are also companies that package “how to use it” information in such a compelling way that some people are willing to pay for it because it saves them time or allows them to understand the software better.

While packaging is the means many in social media are adding value and making a living, the underlying issue remains that the foundation of social media involves individual contributions to the larger group. The irony or the beauty is the community raises the level of “influence” of individuals by their own accord (gaming tactics aside) and the market is willing to pay for it. Perhaps through social media we are seeing capitalism in a more raw form over the last couple of years, and like sausage, sometimes it ain’t pretty – but damn tasty.

Time 14:22

Slowly retailers are understanding that in a world of Free Speech and Equal Access (via the Internet), consumers and employees are talking about them. Many retailers are reluctant to jump into the social media world for an assortment of fears, some real, most perceived.

Adam Cohen, author of the Thousand Cuts blog, a regular read of mine, led a study of retailers using Facebook pages. Cohen’s firm, Rosetta, monitored uses of Fan pages by major retailers overtime from May to September of 2008. A highlight from the piece;

“A September 2008 study by Rosetta (formerly Brulant) that focused on the top 100 online retailers in the US found that 59 had a fan page on Facebook, up from 30 in May 2008. Among the 29 who added Facebook pages since that time were Best Buy, Toys “R” Us, Kohl’s and Wal-Mart.” The report is available for a limited time on eMarketer.

Adam and I discuss in this Marketing Edge podcast how, in some cases, employees or customers may have already created a Fan page on Facebook without the permission of HQ or the Brand Manager. You’ll have to blame James Madison and Thomas Jefferson for their wacky free speech idea in part for this behavior. However, as you have seen with Barack Obama’s campaign the ultimate in retail, when consumers are energetic about your brand, it’s best to watch the energy and not shut the lights off.

For a little background on my perspective on retailers and how they can assemble a comprehensive online strategy, dial back into the archives of the Marketing Edge blog to January 3, 2008 and the potential social media play for REI.

The Classic Question?

Is it best to dip your toe in the social media pool with a more conservative approach with a bit more corporate style like Target (nice grouping of more than 100,000 Fans)

Or a bit less structure like this page produced by fans of Jeep Wrangler

What are your criteria for how retailers can participate in social media?
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