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Danny Brown

Danny Brown

podcaster - author - creator

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Social Media for Soccer Lovers

Let's Make a Soccer Team!
Image via Wikipedia

We’re all part of a team. Our communities are our fellow players and our thought-leaders are our coaches and managers. Our blog readers and our followers on Twitter are our supporters (and we’re theirs). The mediums we use are our playing fields.

There are eleven players in a soccer team with (usually) four different tasks. Who would they be in a social media soccer team?

  1. Goalkeeper. The guy that can decide whether your team wins, draws or loses. The wall to keeping your opponents from scoring, who’ll have your team’s back at all times. Solid and reliable. Suggested goalkeepers: Darin Berntson, Roger Byrne, Lizz Harmon and Iggy Pintado.
  2. Defender. Normally most soccer teams play with four defenders, although three and five can be used too. They’re the guys that will protect the goalkeeper at all costs, while setting up plays from the back to move the game forward. They’re the stalwarts of any great team. Suggested defenders: Justin Levy, Beth Harte, Susan Murphy, Kathryn Jennex, Cheryl Gain, Jacob Morgan and Keren Dagan.
  3. Midfielder. The engine of any soccer team, the midfielders have a lot of ground to cover. They’re responsible for defending the team as well as leading by example and encouraging the attack. Suggested midfielders: Chris Brogan, Jason Falls, Mack Collier, David Alston, Jason Tryfon and Ari Herzog.
  4. Strikers. The glamour players of any soccer team. These are the guys that can lead your team to glory and they can do so by scoring either a spectacular goal or a simple tap-in. They can be quiet during a game but they always have the explosive moment in them that changes the game. Suggested strikers: Amber Naslund, Shannon Paul, David Mullen, Scott Stratten and Dave Fleet.

These are my first-team players. Who would be in your soccer team?

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The Best Things in Life Really ARE Free

Jump on the social media bandwagon
Image by Matt Hamm via Flickr

I saw something interesting today. There’s a website that offers “social media certification”. Its blurb mentions that for only $1495, you will receive the following benefits:

  • Intensive CSMMC (Certified Social Media Marketing Coach/Consultant) 12-week certification program
  • 12 one-hour high-impact interactive classes and 1 bonus session
  • An intensive content-rich training manual
  • Links and resources “worth thousands”
  • A web-based interactive forum

Sounds great – a certification that will allow you to become a social media consultant/expert for less than $1500 and within 12 weeks of knowing nothing about social media. What are you waiting for?

Forgive me if I sound blase, but this just doesn’t seem right.

Twelve hours to learn all you need to know that will have you consulting businesses counting on your social media knowledge? Twelve hours to get deep into what it is that makes social media work and what doesn’t? Twelve hours to learn what the highly-respected social media guys have taken years to learn, and continue to learn?

I don’t know. Maybe the guy that runs this course can teach you how to be a social media consultant and the $1500 is worth every one of your pennies. After all, his profile certainly reads well.

But you know what – you can pretty much already get this information and best of all it’s free.

Listen to guys like Chris Brogan, Christopher S. Penn, David Alston, Peter Kim, Amber Naslund and Justin Levy. These guys are telling you all these things and more every day. On Twitter. On their blogs. On video blogs.

If you really want a certificate to say you’ve completed a tele-seminar, by all means go with the CSMMC course. After all, free advice can’t be as good as paid advice, right?

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The Thing About Blog Comments Is…

"Point of View" binoculars in West Seattle
Image by jcolman via Flickr

They’re a privilege, not a right. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t mean that in an elitist or dictator-type way. After all, comments are the passengers to the bus driver that is the blog author. They’re what makes the trip so enjoyable.

Yet it’s still at the discretion of the bus driver whether it’s a private journey or an open one.

Which is why you’ll see some blogs requiring you to register before commenting; some with no comment options at all; and others that are open-ended and encourage comments wholeheartedly. I’ve always been of the last mindset, as are the majority of bloggers.

Yet this is what also makes them a privilege. When you comment, it’s at the invitation of the blogger. Blogs don’t have to offer comments, although they’re missing out if they don’t (just my opinion). The blogger is essentially inviting the readers into his or her house. You wouldn’t trash a house you’re a guest in, would you?

So why the equivalent in comments?

Here’s an example. On one of Chris Brogan’s recent posts, a comment was left that disagreed with the post in question by a visitor called Agitationist. Fair enough. Yet the person then went on to say, “I hope you?ll take this constructively, but your writing is very sloppy. Ending a sentence with ‘and things like that’ is just lazy.”

We all like (or need) constructive criticism – it’s how we grow and evolve into being better at whatever we do. But calling someone lazy and sloppy isn’t constructive, in my book. If anything, it seems a little vindictive. Jealousy, perhaps? But constructive – no.

Blogs used to have a reputation of being childish – a waste of time for loners in their bedrooms.This view is still entertained in certain circles, but by and large blogs are now more respected than much of mainstream media. Much of this is due to people like Chris Brogan, Rob Scoble, Peter Kim and others.

Blogs are growing up. This is thanks to both the bloggers and the commentators that combine to offer a truly interactive learning space. It’s not too much to ask that we show the host and the home a little respect, is it?

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Free Subscriptions Cost Money Too

TORONTO, ONTARIO 1960'S TORONTO STAR NEWSPAPER...
Image by woody1778a via Flickr

About two weeks ago, I started to get the Toronto Star delivered to my doorstep. Which confused me a little, since I get all my news online, and I didn’t sign up for a subscription. Being the good soul I am, I took it indoors from the cold and warmed it up by reading it.

Since it was the weekend when this happened, I thought it might be a one-off Saturday promotion to attract new subscribers.

Then the weekday editions arrived as well, starting on the following Monday. Time to find out what was happening.

I called the Star’s subscription office and explained what was happening. The girl I spoke to was very helpful, apologized and explained sometimes this happens (although no reason was given why). She said she’d make sure the subscription stopped and that I wouldn’t be charged. Cool, case solved and back to my paperless world.

Until the next day, when the Star arrived again. Then the next. And the next. And… well, you get the picture. So, looks like I’m stuck with the paper. But here’s the kicker.

I looked at how much it costs to subscribe to the Star. If you fill out their online subscription form, it’s $4.47 plus tax per week. However, this is a special offer that ends February 1, which saves you 30% on the normal price. So, for argument’s sake, let’s go with the normal price, which would then be $6.40 (by my calculations).

$6.40 per week for 52 weeks – that would be $332.80 per year (plus tax) just for me alone. One person. Now, according to the girl I spoke to, this can happen. I wonder how often, and to how many.

The newspaper industry is in a bit of turmoil at the minute. It’s one that’s been hit particularly hard by online media sources, ink costs and the failing economy. While just over $330 per year may not sound a lot, it soon adds up with every new person it applies to.

I’d hazard a guess that the Star’s subscription team being unaware of why it’s happening – and worse yet, letting it continue – won’t go down well with the rest of the paper’s employees should cutbacks need to be made to save costs.

Which makes me wonder. If you’re in business, do you know where all your money’s going?

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Can I Buy You?

Brian Carter, a guy I admire immensely, raised an interesting question on Twitter today. He asked:

bcartertweetendorse

My own answer was, “It’s a moot point. If I like something enough to endorse it, I’d do it anyway for free. I wouldn’t sell my trust away.” Yet even as I said that, I wondered if I was looking at Brian’s question properly. Is an endorsement any different from a recommendation, or sponsorship?

Looking at the answers that Brian received, there was a definite mixed bag:

  • “I endorse my friends and products for free.”
  • “If I love the product and get a free sample, I would happily tweet for free.”
  • “$1 a tweet.”
  • “I’d say about fifty cents a tweet, $1 to include a link?”
  • “It’s not the matter of the price of my tweet, it’s the price of the endorsement (which isn’t for sale.”

These are just some examples of the mixed reception the question got. (And I’m not saying any of them are right or wrong – these are just some typical examples of the mix). The fact that opinion seems to be evenly split is what makes me question when, or if, paid endorsement breaks the trust barrier?

To me, endorsing something is because you’ve used a product, service or person and you’re completely sold on it. You’re so taken with the results that you’ll wholeheartedly recommend it or them to your friends, family and colleagues. It’s the ultimate compliment – “It’s so good that I’m happy to use it.”

It’s the trust measurement that people who know and respect you will use when making decisions. So would a blind endorsement break that trust?

The fallout can be intensive when someone’s seen to have broken that trust measurement. You only need to look at the recent Izea sponsored posts outcry as an example. Trust is one of our most prized commodities and often it’s what separates us from contemporaries.

But is endorsing something in your Twitter stream for monetary gain any different from advertising on your blog? My own view says there is a difference. Usually you’re not approached by advertisers for a space on your blog (unless it’s a hugely popular one). I’m guessing paid endorsements would see vendors proactively buying your Twitter advertising space more than they might blog space.

Yet with the economy making things hard for people everywhere, should we question people’s rights to make money where they can? After all, we’re sensible enough to make our own decisions on whether a recommendation or endorsement is worth acting on, no?

What’s your take? Is your view for sale?

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