Coffee Shop Love
- March 24th, 2009
Not too long ago, Chris Brogan shared some fascinating insights on the nature of social media relative to branding. More specifically, he seems to make the case that the use of social media (SM) may yield different results for folks than what they intend.
The big idea is that most people treat these vehicles or tools as means for direct marketing to the masses (think soft-spam). I know I’ve made that mistake before. But, his analogy that social media connection is more akin to café-shaped conversations really struck a chord for me.
The implications of that idea are subtle and significant.
If that’s true, then when we’re communicating, we might need a little more nuance… and a bit more care… at least if we want to expand and deepen the scope and depth of our relationships.
But, if our main goal is to sell rather than solve (a far more valuable asset than a quick sale), all our blog posts and twitters and forum threads may ultimately be for not. It may actually result in erosion.
If you’re thinking, “What?! I thought social media was supposed to make my branding and marketing easier! Are you saying we shouldn’t leverage these tools to propel our brands??”, then I say you’re asking a good question.
The answer is we must use these tools. But, how we use them is what makes all the difference.
It turns out that branding and marketing is harder than it looks. Of course, we get this pretty quick when we liken it to buying a new camera. We know owning the tools will not get us great results on their own. We need to use the tools… and use them well. For some reason, at least for me, it’s easy to forget this idea when it comes to social media.
So, I’ve got some homework for us:
1) Go take a look at your online messaging over the last month. Assess it. Are you enrolling people in the idea of you? Are the messages for you or for your audience?
2) Try something new for the next 7 days… come up with one message a day through whatever vehicle you like (blog, twitter, video, fb, whatever) and commit to a week of messaging only for those who are listening… like a good conversation at a coffee shop. You get extra credit if you cross-pollinate your social media.
3) See if you notice a difference.
Bonus: Feeling alone in all this? Check out today’s episode of AskDane to get some help!
For a LIVE version of AskDane, join in for Fast Track Coaching by CLICKING HERE!
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Can’t wait to connect with you guys!
- Dane
Tags: chris brogan, dane sanders, Fast Track Photographer, gary sikes, marketing, social media, wedding photography
March 24th, 2009 at 11:08 am
Dane,
I am still reading your book and still love it! ;-)
message…that’s tough part…like a blog topic, hard to come up. any suggestions?
March 24th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
I’m so lucky that the Houston community is so active in Social Media – and that it crosses over into our actual coffee shops! CoffeeGroundz has been amazingly supportive of the Twitter & Facebook community, sponsoring tweetups and other events. So while I use social media to help my personal brand, I do it as a part of the community – I try to limit my soft-spam. (I don’t always succeed, but I try really hard.)
Thanks for sharing this!
March 26th, 2009 at 6:13 am
[...] Dane Sanders on Chris Brogan's Cafe Shaped Conversations | Dane … [...]
March 26th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
Very interesting concept! I have been avoiding Twitter…it scares me a little. And as I’ve been struggling to find blog content that is both relevant and interesting, this really struck a chord for me. Thank you Dane!
March 27th, 2009 at 7:44 am
Wow…this is something I have been struggling with. I am VERY new to photography, but I do have a blog. It is hard to come up with subject ideas, especially if you’re like me and just starting out and don’t have alot of photos, stories with photo shoots, etc. I do have twitter though, and I would love to hear how to use twitter and my blog to get out more into the photography world. My blog is pretty blah right now, so I don’t get alot of comments, etc.. I’m hoping this spring to gain more experience with shooting and maybe do some pics of friends, family, whatever, just to get practice and post those on my blog. Thanks so much for offering so much encouragement to all the “newbies’!