Insights

Not Right Now

We should be in social media – just not right now.

We should start a company blog – just not right now.

We should be making our website more user-friendly – just not right now.

We should be doing a lot of things – just not right now.

Not right now – it’s the phrase that companies and executives/decision makers use when they know they’re behind in the game but they’re not sure how to get into it.

It’s the excuse that takes the heat off the boardroom meetings when asked about the new platforms that are emerging (or have emerged) and is it something our company should be looking at.

It’s the fallback of folks that could make it happen right now if they wanted to, but it seems like a lot of work.

Besides, there’s too much that can go wrong to make the risk (or perceived risk) worthwhile.

True. There is a lot that can go wrong.

There is a lot of work involved.

There is stuff that will be completely out of your hands.

But look at it another way. When you first started your business, was there a chance things could go wrong? Did it involve a lot of work, and long hours, to make it happen? Were there things you couldn’t control, no matter how much you planned ahead?

Of course there were, yet you’re still here.? Because you put the effort in and took the risks. Because you knew that not everything will always goes to plan; you just need to make sure you’re ready with a back-up.

So if you’re caught in the not right now dilemma – either yourself, or with someone that makes the decisions for you – take the chance and think differently (or try and show the not right now’s how to think differently).

You don’t need to jump in and participate in social media right away – but you can listen.?Twitter Search, Facebook Groups, Google Alerts and other free and simple platforms can help you see if you should be in social media, and where, and when.
If you can use email you can blog. Platforms like Posterous and Tumblr allow you to write a blog post simply by emailing in your thoughts – their tech guys will do the rest. Five minutes of your time today can turn you into a thought leader for tomorrow.
You can change your website now and relatively painlessly and have the most user-friendly platform for both you and your customers. Better still, you’ll be in control and not tied to some web guy’s timescale.

Not right now is easy – anyone can say it, and make a pretty good case for it as well. That’s why it’s used so often.

But while you’re saying not right now today, your competitors are jumping in right now and owning tomorrow. So when does not right now become not now, not ever, because you’ve simply been left behind?

photo credit: photoverulam

What’s Going On at BlogCatalog?

FU BAR ;>)

Update October 21 2010: This post was originally written from certain conversations. Events after this post put the following content into question and whether the full story was told here. Hence the strikethoughs. I’m sure the real story will come out sometime…

From its inception, BlogCatalog has been a resource for bloggers to both submit their own blogs and find new ones.

In their own words, BlogCatalog is “the largest user submitted blog directory the world has ever seen.”

It’s helped lesser-known blogs garner more traction; offered advertising spots at a fraction of the cost of other directories; and tied itself to some cool blog campaigns like Bloggers Unite.

Simply put, BlogCatalog has been a great resource for bloggers and blog readers alike.

So it’s been surprising and more than a little disappointing (from a blogger’s angle) to see what’s been happening with BlogCatalog the last few days and weeks.

The IMHO Fiasco

In late 2009, Blog Catalog partnered with Selina Eckersall to create a new platform called IMHO. The program would connect bloggers and brands together to review and promote the brand’s products and/or services.

The difference with IMHO would be that the bloggers would have free rein to really say how the product was – no positive review if it wasn’t deserved, and no pressure from brands on bloggers to be positive or else lose future review opportunities.

Had IMHO come to fruition, it could have been the leading resource for honest reviews, and taken away much of the mistrust when it comes to brands and bloggers.

I say had, because earlier this month, everything went belly up.

Partnerships, Promises and Brand IP’s

Having created the intellectual property (IP) for the IMHO brand, Selina’s part in the IMHO program was to provide the advertising and marketing expertise, with BlogCatalog providing the bloggers from their directory as well as the resources to get the site developed and the back-end engine in place to handle the members.

Due to BlogCatalog’s ongoing revamp, these resources couldn’t be provided. Selina suggested that she then take on majority ownership of the company so she could begin outsourcing work to get the program up-and-running. BlogCatalog would still be recognized as a key partner and any revenue from the program would reflect that.

And that’s where the fun began, and where BlogCatalog’s positioning seems to go off the rails a little.

Several phone calls and emails later, BlogCatalog’s position is that the IP and all other parts of IMHO belongs to them, and that all copyright and resources, designs, etc, should be returned to BlogCatalog, otherwise legal action will be taken.

Next up, BlogCatalog registers a new domain and starts diverting members of the existing IMHO site to the new one. They also forbid Selina from contacting the members she’s helped to keep informed (again under legal restrictions), and delete her account at BlogCatalog itself.

Which brings us to the current situation.

IMHO?

The acronym IMHO can stand for two things – either In My Honest Opinion, or In My Humble Opinion. As a blogger/brand platform, the acronym would have been perfect. As it stands in its current form and legal crapshoot, neither seem to fit.

For her part, Selina decided to walk away completely and give up her IP, brand recognition and future revenue as opposed to being involved in something that had become so tainted. Her open resignation letter to the IMHO members explains this in fuller detail.

As for BlogCatalog? One of the ways they describe themselves in their communications to IMHO members is, “BlogCatalog is about humble opinions about humble companies. Companies that don’t say one thing and do another.”

Kind of seems ironic, given the current state of play, no?

One thing’s for sure – the IMHO fiasco probably isn’t over yet and, from a blogger viewpoint, probably leaves a few questions that BlogCatalog might have to answer about openness and humility.

Something the whole IMHO program was meant to be built on…

(Disclosure. This post references Selina Eckersall, who is a personal friend and business partner. The details are from conversations we’ve had, and comments and actions from Blog Catalog CEO Tony Berkman, amongst others. I emailed Tony for his take but haven’t heard anything back yet).

photo credit: Bob_Wall

Case Study

Don’t wait to read case studies in your industry – be the case study instead.

Team Building

Companies put a lot of effort into team building.

They spend thousands on booking events and locations to foster team spirit. Weekends away, surviving in the wilderness, setting tasks to pass to create a better understanding of teamwork.

Thing is, it’s very often a false economy. Team building exercises like this can work, but often feel like role-playing exercises – they’re not real-life examples.

Instead of sending people away to build a team, why not build it from the inside on recognizable terrain?

Open up the silos; ask for, and then listen to, ideas and suggestions; encourage and recognize greatness; make everyone equal.

Want to build a great team? Make the team great to begin with.

Blog Awards, Recognition, And Your Part in It

When I first started this blog just under two years ago, I had one clear goal – fostering thought connections.

Sure, I’d be using it to offer my views on the still-emerging (at the time) social media platform, as well as ideas and solutions on how you could get the most out of the new networks and tools that seemed to be popping up all over the place.

But the overriding factor would be to have my blog as a focal point where ideas could be shared; viewpoints could be discussed; friendships and connections made; and a community built that wasn’t afraid to challenge thinking to help each other grow.

What I didn’t expect was how the blog would grow in that timescale.

Today I found out that this blog was one of the recipients of Young Entrepreneur’s Top 10 Marketing Blogs Award. While I was uber-happy to be recognized by such an organization to start with, my jaw literally dropped on the floor when I saw the company I was keeping – Seth Godin, Andy Beal, John Jantsch and Valeria Maltoni among others.

These are marketers and bloggers that I look up to immensely, so to be sitting alongside them is pretty mind-blowing. What’s even more mind-blowing is how the Young Entrepreneur award is part of what’s been an incredible first half of the year for this blog.

In January, it was voted PostRank’s Top Marketing and Social Media Blog.
In February, it came in at number three as one of the Top 50 Canadian Marketing Blogs.
In March, it received the Hive Award for Best Social Media Blog at South by Southwest.
In April, it came in at number six as one of Cision’s Top 100 Social Media and Internet Marketing Blogs.

Couple that with its syndication across the Social Media Today, WebProNews and Newstex business networks as well as its inclusion on the AdAge Power 150 list, and this blog has taken on a life that I could never have foreseen back in September 2008.

Now, while I could lay claim to having done it all myself and how the content has spoken, blah-de-blah-de-blah, even it if were true it’d only tell half the story.

As I mentioned at the start, the aim of this blog has always been to foster a community that would not only question and offer views, but would help the blog grow because of that questioning and view sharing. And these awards and recognition are proof that’s exactly what has happened.

If you didn’t come here and read my thoughts; if you didn’t come here and offer yours; if you didn’t question my viewpoint and make me think differently and strive to be the best I can every time, none of the recognition or award-winning would have happened. I’m not that dumb.

So.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Thank you for giving me the time from your life to make me think better. To make me question my thoughts. To make me learn and improve daily.

And thank you even more for helping foster what is, without question, one of the best resources of knowledge, expertise, thought leadership and more – our community.

Your community.

Here’s to you.

photo credit: blentley