I have to give it up to those that have jumped into the Google + social media platform with such gusto. People I admire GREATLY like Robert Scoble, Steve Woodruff and Chris Brogan were some of the first people I added to circles and I see them streaming their content religiously through G+. I’ve seen some local adaptation for Google +, but a much more limited display. Why?

I wonder if missing my friends’ posts and content is just because of the volume of content that is generated by those like Scoble and Brogan or if there has been some kind of fissure in the connection between Google+ and the platforms my “Local Circles” produce content on. I have been dedicated to platforms like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn for a number of years now, simply because I started and built those networks up from my own social media infancy to a rewarding presence over the past 5 years. But like many I have talked to, I find that Google + is just more noise in the landscape that we’re all trying to understand.

A good local social media friend of mine, Laura Gaulke (@allauremkt on Twitter), posted on the Des Moines Business Mixer, a super aricle link from Mari Smith. Where even Mari questions the validity and application of another social media platform to compete with the likes of Facebook and Twitter. It’s evident, that like many of us, Mari is still waiting for the BIG TA-DA moment from G+ to make the complete switch over:

For now, I highly doubt we’re going to see any kind of mass exodus of Facebook users to Google+. For many people, it can feel like a foreign land and foreign language to have to learn a whole new social network. Many users on Facebook are still getting to grips with the (constantly changing) features on the platform. Besides, if the average user on Facebook uses the site to connect with family around the world and to play games, they will stay there so long as they can still reach their loved ones and play their games.

Google certainly has the power to create a behemoth of a social media network, but my questions is, “Should they?”

I’ve simply resisted adaptation for G+ to my social media strategy for a couple of reasons.

1. I just don’t have the time to manage another outpost for myself or my clients, and
2. I’m not seeing G+ as friendly when it comes to integrating my other social media tools

Until I can alleviate that pain, the utility and convenience of Google + remains a distant tangible. I will stay tuned, stay connected, monitor growth and play on the beachfront; but I probably won’t be diving in the deep end until I know HOW DEEP IT ACTUALLY IS.

So what do YOU think? Has Google+ added to your social media strategy or is it just more noise in the mix. I want to get this discussion started. Post below and share with your circles …(ha ha)…

KEEP COOKING!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

Image Credit: http://popherald.com/google-plus-invite-open-again/7944

**As a disclaimer, I was just informed this morning (by my Intern) that Cisco has discontinued the production of the FLIP video Camera.  So ANYWHERE I say “FLIP…”  Insert the words “Cell Phone.”  While it lacks the same fun and double entendre as “FLIP,” the premise still applies. If you “CellPhone” your blog (yawn), keep the following topics in mind…  Now, I’m off to catch up on current events.  Are we still in Iraq?**

Videos and podcast aren’t new to interactive marketing and communications. Some of my favorite blogs aren’t actually written blogs at all, but video blogs (or Vlogs) where the author turns the camera on and actually looks right at me and talks. Think about it. VIRTUALLY communicating eye-to-eye with your audience!

Image credit: http://blog.tmcnet.com

As technology improves and the speed of internet connections increases, the need for monster bandwidth, storage space and cost have become relatively low. Considering that, I’ve been encouraging my clients to “Flip” the model of their blogging.

I’ve sent many clients on over to The Flip Video product website for ideas on what the possibilities are and how it can bring people together. Sure, there are video samples given. That’s an obvious, but how they’re presented doesn’t feel quite so authentic. They feel like produced, planned recordings, even though they might not be.

I’m here to tell you…  Flipping Your Blog doesn’t need to be difficult, but it DOES need to be done…

Here are three simple steps to how to make the Flip Video Recorder an integral part of your blogging (and interactive marketing) process.

1. Turn the site over to the people actually using the product / brand (employees and customers):
   Sure there’s room for starched, corporate stuff, but why not make some space available to those that interact with the brand most? Allow them to upload videos, comment on other videos, tag videos and so on. Use your site as an outlet, so the experience with the brand doesn’t get capped in legal or proofreading.  The Flip Video Recorder allows the “HUMAN” side of the brand to come back to communications. The Flip is all about shooting video easily and transferring it to your computer/website in a snap. You should prove this point every day.
2. Create a YouTube channel
   Make your own space on YouTube. It’s FREE! Create a channel. Encourage people to tag their videos to your group. Flip has the “Upload to YouTube” feature, complete the circle and make the channel. You can then feed the channel right into your blog. Multiple authors and endless video opportunities can be sent to your site with very little effort. Why not harness all that free attention?
3. Make it easy to find you
   Outposts… Outposts…  Outposts! I’ve talked about this many times before, but your brand shouldn’t live solely on your website. With more outposts, the more opportunities you’ll have for cross posting, tagging and linking that all generate a little more SEO love as well as create multiple places for your target audience to find you, share your information and create a bigger, more enthusiastic brand community!

My point is this: the Flip Video Recorder is a tool that makes video, basic video editing and video sharing infinitely easier. It’s a tool for real people looking for a simple and convenient video solution. Why not take the easy road and FLIP YOUR BLOG?

So…  why didn’t I do this post using a Flip video?!?  I GAVE MY LAST FLIP CAMERA TO A CLIENT!

How would you use video to build a better blog? How could video improve your user experience with your brand?

I would love to hear your thoughts.

Keep Cooking (TRUE, engaging content)!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

As CreateWOW embarked on decorating our new office space, I sent out a tweet asking if someone new of a product or a solution to make an entire wall an erasable white board.  I did get some answers, but none that I would have been comfortable with.  Some required a VERY EXPENSIVE paint. Others suggested large sheets of melonite that I’d have to secure to the walls (landlord frowned on that idea).  So, eventually, I gave up on the idea.

It was hard at first, because I am such a visual person, I use an easel and HUGE note pads just to flesh out illustration ideas.  Imagine the space it takes to really flesh out a social media marketing campaign!

Well, yesterday, during a client planning session, I realized what my brain had been telling me for a few months now.  The dry erase wall is a good idea.

A Plan Is Worth 1,000 Words:

a plan is worth 1,000 words

In a matter of minutes, the clients and I flew through sheet after sheet of pad paper and pasted them to the wall.  The conversation was flowing so quickly that just keeping up with the ideas was a challenge. After we’d “Dumped” our wish list on the papers, we then, rearranged the pages and put the plan in systematic, chronological order.

PERFECT.

The clients left assured that the directives they assigned us were understood and the plan to achieve their goals was in place.  Smiles. Handshakes. Pats on the back. It all seemed so simple, but without the plan up on the wall, it was just words.

Try this approach next time you’re in a planning or strategy session with your clients or coworkers. It’s a little overwhelming for the “Non-visual” people in the room, but I guarantee when they see the path ahead of them, they’ll take the next step with you without asking another question.

My friends Mike Wagner and Jocelyn Wallace may have a thing-or-two to add to this post, yes?

Do you have other tips or techniques to help clients or coworkers visualize a plan?  Is it a whiteboard? Is it PowerPoint (God I hope not…

Let us know.  Or better yet…  show us…

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

Growth is a positive thing. I mean growth that produces great things:

• Business opportunities
• Professional credibility
• Community ties
• Industry stability
• Economical security

ALL good things, right?

YES!

So why not join the CreateWOW team and grow with us (me)?

If you have a desire to join a nimble, progressive marketing and communications company with a drive to change how companies use media, then I want to hear from you.

CreateWOWmarketing, LLC has brought on a handful of new clients that will require talent and support from:

• Public Relations Professionals
• Media Buyers and Managers
• Account and Marketing Managers
• Creatives and Multi-Channel Graphic Designers

And while I want to “Do It ALL,” I just can’t…

I’M not looking for just anyone. The people that are brought into the CreateWOW culture will need to be inspired by creativity and driven to create WOW for our clients using traditional and emerging marketing tactics.

These positions are to be considered “Internships” until the candidate has proven him / herself in the job.

I do pay my interns.

Don’t throw your resume at me and expect a call. Connect with me on a unique, engaging and relevant level to the position YOU hope to fill. And for God’s sake, be Truthful.

I want the team to reflect CreateWOW. I want the team to GROW CreateWOW.

So, there you have it. The proverbial ball is in your court.

Spread the word. Tweet. FaceBook it… LinkedIn it… GET IT?

And for ever and always…

KEEP COOKING!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

p: 515.257.MKTG
(515.257.6584)

Fx: 866.257.0961

e-mail:
Andrew@createWOWmarketing.com
thebrandchef@gmail.com

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http://www.thebrandchef.com

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This post was originally published Friday, April 8, 2011 at – http://createwowmarketing.com/are-you-prepared-to-create-your-own-wow/

(This was originally posted on the CreateWOWmarketing Blog on 10/19/10)

Have you ever seen a great NFL quarterback run to the sidelines and look into the playbook? Neither have I… So why is it that so many marketers out there are generating rote, boring plans for their clients based on “plays” they learned back in the bush leagues?

The traditional approach to marketing is too linear for today’s world. Today’s target audience is constantly moving, growing and learning new technologies. But much of the marketing we see today is still formulaic and trite, as if someone in 1976 created “The Playbook For Successful Marketing” and it’s been dogmatically followed ever since? Cold. Unfeeling. Corporate.

How ’bout I let you in on a secret…

Dogmatic playbook-marketing isn’t viable any longer. The game has changed. Sure, marketing can follow a plan / structure. Marketing can (should) have strategy. But if you think the formulaic mindset you (they) used in 1976 (or earlier for you MadMen fans) will work, you’re going to fail abjectly!

The playbooks are outdated. The systems set forth by or mentors, while still brilliant, are tired. And they (dare I say it?) are singular-minded, focusing on agency award hardware… not the client nor its community. The days of super-star agency quarterbacks in the big, Manhattan corner office are over!

Stop and look around your office (if you have one). There’s value there, you just have to see it. The biggest asset you’ll find are the actual human beings that work WITH you!

Here’s a note for our “Super-Star” marketing quarterbacks:

Marketing Has Taken A More Emotional, Community-Focused Approach

That’s what I like about social media. Adding social media to marketing has taken the ritualistic, dogma of “old school” and turned it on its ear. It allows fresh minds, the “rebels” of the community to work organically on the sidelines, changing the plays and calling options as they see the defense set up. Sure, the goal is the same – get the client’s product or service noticed and to generate actions or a purchase.

I’ll say it again. Our job is to, “… get the client’s product or service noticed and to generate actions or a purchase.”

That’s IT. No more. No less.

GOAL!

When a client brings their product or service to you, the first thing that happens to you and your team is you form an EMOTIONAL response or “Feeling” about it. Immediately, that elicits a LOGICAL action plan on how to deal with it.

STOP THERE!

Don’t pick up the “1976 Playbook For Successful Marketing.” Because I guarantee, if the client hasn’t heard the rhetoric yet, the marketplace has and you’re going to get sacked. You need to out-think the defense! Create marketing that makes people say “WOW!!” (Or something similar).

Be quicker. Be original. Be passionate. Call the option. Use a flea-flicker or the hail-Mary pass from time-to-time. It may be unexpected, but THAT’s what people respond to.

Have you seen marketing that’s disregarded all the traditional plays and succeeded? I have.

Do you have a client that needs a passionate, community-driven plan instead of the same old rhetoric? Create even a little “WOW” and they’ll see the end-zone.

Until the next huddle…

Keep Cooking (silly sports metaphors for everything),
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef