Latest posts from Danny Brown

Enjoy the latest posts from Danny Brown, and feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments after the post.

Hope, Change, Belief – The 12for12k Story and How You Can Be a Part of It

Back at the end of 2008, I had an idea for doing something through social media to help charities.

Thanks to some amazing friends and people like you that supported with your time and donations, that idea turned into a great example of how we can all make change if we really want to.

The 12for12k project has raised over $100,000 for various charities to date – an amazing figure, given the “buy-in” was deliberately low, and the project took an enforced absence during most of 2010 and 2011.

The reason for its success? You, and the power of the crowd when there’s something to believe in. Your support; ideas; donations; awareness and more were crucial in all that 12for12k achieved, and if anything was ever a true team effort, 12for12k was it.

And now I’d love for you to take part again.

I’m currently writing Hope, Change, Belief – The 12for12k Story and the Lessons Non-Profits Can Take From It to Succceed in Social Media, and I’d love for your contributions to help shape it.

Because it will be a?story that’s geared towards helping non-profits understand social media and how they can really benefit from it, the book will share the failures of 12for12k as much as it’ll share the successes. After all, we only grow from our mistakes and how we react to them.

To that end, I’d love for your thoughts on what worked and what didn’t work. What did 12for12k do right, and where did it go wrong? What was your overall experience with 12for12k, and what are your memories of the project overall?

Drop me your thoughts via the form below, and I’ll choose a bunch to add to the book’s chapters and upcoming addition to the 12for12k website, with full accreditation. Also, those chosen will receive a free copy when published later this year, and everyone else will receive a special discount code for taking the time to share their thoughts.

I’d really love for Hope, Change, Belief to act as a soundboard and guideline on how to really make the most of social media in the non-profit field, and with your thoughts and honest opinion, I think we can do that.

Thanks, guys, and look forward to reading your words.

PS – And look out for a new goal for 12for12k later this year, it’s going to be fun!

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Introducing Social CRM Insider

Over at Jugnoo, our goal is to help educate business?owners?on the social web, and really help them both understand and improve their visibilty on it.

Part of our approach is to offer resources that will act as a go-to for news, best practices, tips and awareness?for all the various parts that make up today’s business scene.

Recently, we launched the first salvo in this in the form of Social CRM Insider.

A blog dedicated to the increasingly important area of customer relationship management in the social media space, Social CRM Insider will show why this is such a key part of any company’s strategy, especially online. From the About Page:

Every week, we?ll share our insights, best practices, case studies and more on how to run an effective customer relationship program in the social media landscape, and build brand loyalty around your business in the process.
We?ll strip away the guesswork and provide you with real-world examples of who?s doing it right, and how you can adapt these methods to your own business. And we?ll do it in a way that you can understand ? no industry jargon or buzzwords here.
Social media has always been about the relationship to the sale for business owners and their customers. Consumers have known this for a while; now it?s time for you to understand better too.

To help us with our goal, we’ve employed awesome social media and business blogger Joey Strawn as our blogger-in-residence and, while I’m biased, he’s already knocking the content out of the park, with a great amount of interest and feedback coming in.

As I mentioned at the start, we’re just beginning to ramp up our activities, and the Social CRM Insider is something we’re really looking forward to grow as we help businesses understand this space we play in.

I’d love for you to check?the Social CRM Insider blog?out when you have time, and if you have any kind of customer-centric needs for your own business, blog, store or more, you might just find it’s the ideal new blog to subscribe to.

Cheers!

Heritage, Culture and What the Japanese Can Teach Us About Business Longevity

If you take a look at a list of?the oldest companies in the world, you?ll see the glaringly obvious fact that the majority of the companies listed are Japanese.

Germany makes a good argument for having a fair few, while the U.S. begins a late charge once they broke away from British rule. The rest is a mish-mash of European countries and developing countries (at least in the later part of the list).

So why does Japan have such a strong command of business, and what it takes to survive?

There are a few reasons. As someone who?s heavily influenced by Japanese culture, one of the things I?ve always admired about their business approach is how they encourage innovation and information-sharing from the bottom up. Everyone has a voice ? it may not be used, but it?will?be heard.

Another reason is the permanent employment system Japanese companies use. This sees workers employed from college, but without a particular skill set to take to their new job. So, instead of being stuck in one division, the new recruit really does learn all about the company and its culture as he or she works their way through it.

Yet perhaps the biggest pointer on why Japanese companies often succeed where others fail is due to one simple reason, and one that?s more prevalent through smaller companies as opposed to the larger ones.

New employees are given mentors, and they spend years learning their craft, honing their skills and understanding every part of a machination or process that their employer goes through every day. They focus on needs and future needs as opposed to current successes.

It?s probably no surprise that this system can be found in Germany, under the term?Meister? perhaps the reason Germany is second only to Japan when it comes to longevity and success.

So, simply put,?knowing what you?re talking about and how to transfer that to what your customer needs?is the secret of not only Japanese business? longevity, but longevity in general when it comes to you too.

Make your blog?your fountain of knowledge as opposed to your drainpipe of loose facts.

Make your speeches?your topic of personal knowledge as opposed to a Googled equivalent.

Make your business?the one that finds the answers it doesn?t have, as opposed to your customers finding them first elsewhere.

Make your job?the one that educates you for your next position as opposed to the one that educates you on killing time.

Make the books?you read enhance your knowledge as opposed to entrench your growth.

We all want long-term success. We all want to be recognized or known for what we do, long after we don?t do it anymore. But sometimes we think achieving longevity is something others do, not us.

The funny thing is, longevity is a lot easier to come by than we think it is ? you just have to know how to find it, and funnel it.

Ready to start learning?

First Impressions Count, But Second Impressions Are What Really Matter

feature image by Eric Martin

What do people think of you when they first meet you?

What do you think their immediate impression is? If it’s personally, you might not care too much – after all, to each their own, right? But what if you’re a business offering a service – does that change your train of thought? Does the view of the same new face now hold more sway?

Even more so, what if your service is one that defines people’s first impressions of your customer – would you place even more emphasis on every single interaction you have, to make sure the impression left is the right one?

First Impressions

I have certain alerts set up via Google (as well as other social monitoring platforms), to alert me to words and phrases that could point to articles or blog posts relevant to me or my business needs. One of these alerts came in recently, so I thought I’d check it out.

It led me to this Facebook Page (note: image was taken prior to the brand pages makeover, but the “content” remains the same).

I’ve blocked out the name of the company (and forgive the blotchy red strokes – art was never my strong point), but you can still see the details of their service.

What stands out for me is that, as part of their service, they offer Facebook and Twitter page design. Since a branded Facebook page can really help you differentiate yourself from everyone else, it’s a service that’s becoming more popular. Yet the company’s own Facebook page is pretty lacklustre, with just the standard options.

Where’s the dedicated landing page, or more interactive tabs and features that some of the best Facebook pages have?

So, not a great start – but it was better than their main point of call…

Second Chances

It may have been that the Facebook page was a work in progress. I wasn’t so sure about this, since administrators of Facebook pages have the option to keep the page private until ready for launch.

But, give the benefit of the doubt – so I thought I’d check out the company’s website instead. Where I found this.

Probably not the best landing page in the world for a company that offers web design and development as part of their core services.

Couple this with the Facebook page – while you can have works in progress, you can also have landing areas that show this information, as opposed to a “parked here free of charge”-type message. For a company who wants to help you design the face of your business, the combination of the non-existent website and standard Facebook page doesn’t bode well.

Second Chances – Learning Points

Now I don’t want to be too down on this company, since it could be a fledgling business from some young entrepreneurs looking to realize their goal of owning their own business.

Yet at the same time, they’re not doing themselves any favours either by launching into the public too soon. So what could they have done differently?

Have a dedicated landing page. This relates to both the Facebook page and the website (in its current form). Having a pre-launch landing page on a website looks a lot more professional than a web host message. The same goes for having a dedicated Facebook landing page as opposed to the standard Wall – especially for a Facebook page design company.

Keep everything under wraps. While you might be excited to launch a product or business, unveiling it too soon can do more damage than good. Instead, keep everything private with maybe the odd teaser, and make sure you’re 100% ready for the public gaze. Because they’ll be ready for you, finished or not.

Beware of search engines. The reason I received the alert that took me to this company’s Facebook page is simple – their information box is full of keywords relevant to my industry. Tying into keeping everything under wraps, don’t stuff keywords into something that’s public but not ready – it’ll just bring you eyeballs you may not want. Hold off until launch instead.

While first impressions count, you can get past a less-than-great one with an awesome second impression – but you need that second impression to be solid. This company’s website would have been their chance for a second impression – and they blew it.

Now. It could be that this company is one of the best in the world at web and Facebook page design, among other social media skills.

But given their first and second chance to impress, would you hire them to paint the face of your business?

12 Bloggers You Really Should Read in 2012

The great thing about blogging is that you get to meet so many smart people. While a post might start the conversation, the comments take it in a whole new direction altogether, and makes a post better for it.

As well as blog comments offering the opportunity to read the views of these smart people, they also allow us to check out more of their writing, thanks to plugins like CommentLuv.

I’ve discovered some really great bloggers through comments left on this blog, and I’d like to share 12 of them with you today.

Each one of them brings a tremendous voice and point-of-view, as well as something to learn from every time. And you can’t ask for more than that.

So, without further ado and in no particular order, here are 12 bloggers you really should read and subscribe to in 2012.

1. Judy Dunn

One of the original For Bloggers By Bloggers core authors, Judy has long been one of my favourite bloggers from the first post of hers I read. Her Cats Eye Writer blog is one of the best around, period, for writing advice, style, life lessons weaved into blogging and more. If you want to be a better writer, read Judy Dunn.

2. Craig McBreen

Craig came into my radar last year, and he’s been there ever since. A fairly new blogger, Craig writes about social media and business, but from a more human angle. His writing style is very warm and incredibly smooth, and flows from one sentence to the other. If you want a business-type blog without the boring corporate fluff, check Craig McBreen out.

3. Jayme Soulati

Never one to pull punches or walk in territories others would be afraid to, Jayme Soulati writes an excellent PR-led blog over at Soulati-‘TUDE. Although there are many reasons to love her blog, her no-nonsense approach to showing what’s wrong in PR and how to improve it make it an essential read for anyone with an interest in public relations.

4. Robert Dempsey

One of my favourite marketing blogs, because like Jayme above there are no punches pulled, Robert Dempsey’s blog is one of those blogs that has you hooked once you read a post. Knowledgeable; genuine; fearless – if you want a great marketing blog that really tells it like it is, Robert Dempsey is your guy.

5. Stuart Mills

There are many blogs that write about life and how to remain positive when the shit hits the fan. Many come across as false, though, and just out for eyeballs. Stuart’s Unlock The Door blog isn’t one of them. A tremendous blog that shines with humanity and real emotion, this is one of the best blogs out there to show you how to really live life, personally and professionally.

6. Bill Dorman

The self-penned “Invisible Blogger” because no-one used to read his blog (man, how that’s changed!), Bill Dorman is another blogger who effortlessly seems to bridge the gap between business, life, human emotions and storytelling. That’s not an easy trick to pull off – but Bill does it with ease. Read his blog and you’ll see how for yourself.

7. Ken Mueller

Ken Mueller is simply awesome – that’s all you need to know. More? Okay – Ken’s blog is one of the very best at providing solid business and social media views with humour and deprecation. This is a guy that’s not afraid to get the lady clothes on for a video to prove a point – and that’s just one of many reasons why you should read his blog. ‘Nuff said.

8. Samantha Collier

A fellow Canadian, Samantha Collier writes about social media for law firms on her blog. In an industry that has to be extra-careful at what can and can’t be said online, Samantha’s blog is a great educational resource, as well as a helping hand for law practitioners when it comes to the social media space. A great read.

9. Howie Goldfarb

I’m not quite sure whether Howie is an alien or human being, or something in-between. One thing I’m certain of, though, is that he’s one of the most-informed people I know when it comes to talking about advertising and social media, amongst other things. While his blog needs a visual makeover (my eyes, Howie!!!), it’s no slouch when it comes to solid information and overviews. Read it and learn.

10. Brankica Underwood

One of my perennial favourite bloggers, Brankica writes about Internet marketing, SEO, blogging and more over at Live Your Love. Her voice is one of the most vociferous out there when sharing opinion (and that’s a great thing to have), and she also continuously recommends awesome products for anyone looking to create a business online. Required reading.

11. Marya

I found Marya’s blog completely by accident. She suggested a guest post for For Bloggers By Bloggers and I checked out her stuff, and was blown away by the quality of educational content. Much like Judy that started this list, Marya writes excellent blogging and writing tips, and has a great community of commentators over at her Writing Happiness blog.

12. Dan Perez

I always give Dan stick for being a miserable sod – but deep down (okay, on the surface too!) he’s one of the most genuine guys you’ll meet. Dan writes about a lot of topics – social media, people, business, non-profit and more – as well as makes great videos to share them. But despite the multi-topic approach, Dan Perez’s blog is one of the most cohesive and educational/inspiring ones around.

So there you have it – 12 bloggers that you really should add to your reading list in 2012, if you’re not already reading them. Like I say, each one offers something unique to them, and makes blog reading and commenting a delightful lesson.

I hope you check them out – I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with any of them. Oh, and if you’re looking for more blogging tips and advice, there’s always our little site over at For Bloggers By Bloggers, too…

Happy New Year, all!

image: Kikolani