Social media
INTA -- Changes
May 26, 2010
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
And so we enter the home stretch of the 2010 INTA Annual Meeting. Some attendees will leave today because their work load demands it. Some will stay for tonight’s Grand Finale at the Museum of Science.
I attended my first Annual Meeting in 2005. In the past five years, I’ve noticed three major changes.
First, the booths in the exhibition hall don’t offer giveaways anymore. Westlaw used to offer premium quality gym bags or roller bags if you sat through a presentation lasting approximately thirty minutes. The giveaway was so popular that waiting on the massive line to get to the presentation frequently exceeded an hour. Perhaps the scaling back is a response to the economy. Instead of premium giveaways, many vendors are holding drawings. Place your business card in a bowl. If they draw your card, you win an iPad, iPod, etc.
Second, law firms don’t host nearly as many parties. The economy has certainly hit the legal field in the past five years. Law firms retracted marketing efforts accordingly. Once a highlight of the INTA Annual meeting, now attendees must find networking opportunities on their own.
Third, the topics in the seminars, workshops, and breakout sessions have changed. This change is a response to the demands of INTA’s members and their clients. For example, “social media” was not in our lexicon five years ago. Now, it’s front and center as a topic because our clients face tremendous challenges in policing their marks on Facebook, Twitter, and the like.
So, as we wind down, I’m already looking forward to next year’s Annual Meeting in San Francisco!
david@davidkrell.com
And so we enter the home stretch of the 2010 INTA Annual Meeting. Some attendees will leave today because their work load demands it. Some will stay for tonight’s Grand Finale at the Museum of Science.
I attended my first Annual Meeting in 2005. In the past five years, I’ve noticed three major changes.
First, the booths in the exhibition hall don’t offer giveaways anymore. Westlaw used to offer premium quality gym bags or roller bags if you sat through a presentation lasting approximately thirty minutes. The giveaway was so popular that waiting on the massive line to get to the presentation frequently exceeded an hour. Perhaps the scaling back is a response to the economy. Instead of premium giveaways, many vendors are holding drawings. Place your business card in a bowl. If they draw your card, you win an iPad, iPod, etc.
Second, law firms don’t host nearly as many parties. The economy has certainly hit the legal field in the past five years. Law firms retracted marketing efforts accordingly. Once a highlight of the INTA Annual meeting, now attendees must find networking opportunities on their own.
Third, the topics in the seminars, workshops, and breakout sessions have changed. This change is a response to the demands of INTA’s members and their clients. For example, “social media” was not in our lexicon five years ago. Now, it’s front and center as a topic because our clients face tremendous challenges in policing their marks on Facebook, Twitter, and the like.
So, as we wind down, I’m already looking forward to next year’s Annual Meeting in San Francisco!
How Is Your Company Using Social Media?
October 22, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
Social media isn’t just for status updates about waiting in line at Starbucks, watching the baseball playoffs, or running errands. Corporations are taking advantage of the relatively infant social media network to connect directly with customers, enhance branding initiatives, and promote products and services.
General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt highlighted the corporate embrace of social media yesterday at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco -- A Conversation with Jeff Immelt with John Battelle, Founder and Chairman of Federated Media Publishing.
The one thing I’ve learned being a public company CEO for the last couple of years is if you’re not willing to be completely transparent on just about everything you do and if you can’t tolerate life in a world where you’re sharing information openly, where you’re getting input from lots of different people, where they have the ability to critique, criticize, have inputs whether it’s on Health Imagination, Ecomagination, you better find a new profession. This is just a world of transparency, openness, two-way dialogue with your constituents.
How is your company furthering that dialogue?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Social media can be a cornerstone of a company’s marketing plan if it is used effectively. We reveal effective social media strategies in the Your Writing Is Your Brand™ and Write This Way™ workshops.
david@davidkrell.com
Social media isn’t just for status updates about waiting in line at Starbucks, watching the baseball playoffs, or running errands. Corporations are taking advantage of the relatively infant social media network to connect directly with customers, enhance branding initiatives, and promote products and services.
General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt highlighted the corporate embrace of social media yesterday at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco -- A Conversation with Jeff Immelt with John Battelle, Founder and Chairman of Federated Media Publishing.
The one thing I’ve learned being a public company CEO for the last couple of years is if you’re not willing to be completely transparent on just about everything you do and if you can’t tolerate life in a world where you’re sharing information openly, where you’re getting input from lots of different people, where they have the ability to critique, criticize, have inputs whether it’s on Health Imagination, Ecomagination, you better find a new profession. This is just a world of transparency, openness, two-way dialogue with your constituents.
How is your company furthering that dialogue?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Social media can be a cornerstone of a company’s marketing plan if it is used effectively. We reveal effective social media strategies in the Your Writing Is Your Brand™ and Write This Way™ workshops.
A Social Media Marketing Story
October 13, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
Rachel Levy is a Boston-based marketer who reinvented her personal brand. She built a go-to person status in social media marketing by embracing the challenge of mastering the intricacies of social media. The reinvention has resulted in consulting with corporate clients, blogging at www.rachel-levy.com, and Tweeting to thousands of followers as BostonMarketer.
The road to reinvention began on a different path -- job search.
I didn’t know a lot about social media, but I felt that I should know it from a business perspective. The job search transitioned into consulting for clients. I added another layer to my marketing skills.
Her marketing skills were already formidable from experience at Jim Beam Brands, Kraft Foods, and Jewish Community Centers of Greater Boston. The experience is vital to Rachel’s keen understanding of social media. Where others see social media as a mere novelty, Rachel sees it as an extraordinary marketing opportunity for corporate America. Unfortunately, the opportunity may be missed.
Social media is a tool for the marketing tool belt. But companies have a lot of room to be more effective in how they utilize Facebook, Twitter, and other social media and networking web sites. They might not view social media as an integral part of a marketing strategy because social media is relatively new. They need to be willing to invest time in developing a strategy.
Once a company develops, refines, and implements a social media strategy, another challenge will manifest. How do you measure effectiveness?
Companies will change measurement tools. Instead of cost per impression, the measurement may be cost per engagement or cost per conversation. The cost will be rooted in time and salary, not a dollar amount in the advertising budget.
To learn more about Rachel Levy’s social media insights, go to her web site at www.rachel-levy.com and follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BostonMarketer.
david@davidkrell.com
Rachel Levy is a Boston-based marketer who reinvented her personal brand. She built a go-to person status in social media marketing by embracing the challenge of mastering the intricacies of social media. The reinvention has resulted in consulting with corporate clients, blogging at www.rachel-levy.com, and Tweeting to thousands of followers as BostonMarketer.
The road to reinvention began on a different path -- job search.
I didn’t know a lot about social media, but I felt that I should know it from a business perspective. The job search transitioned into consulting for clients. I added another layer to my marketing skills.
Her marketing skills were already formidable from experience at Jim Beam Brands, Kraft Foods, and Jewish Community Centers of Greater Boston. The experience is vital to Rachel’s keen understanding of social media. Where others see social media as a mere novelty, Rachel sees it as an extraordinary marketing opportunity for corporate America. Unfortunately, the opportunity may be missed.
Social media is a tool for the marketing tool belt. But companies have a lot of room to be more effective in how they utilize Facebook, Twitter, and other social media and networking web sites. They might not view social media as an integral part of a marketing strategy because social media is relatively new. They need to be willing to invest time in developing a strategy.
Once a company develops, refines, and implements a social media strategy, another challenge will manifest. How do you measure effectiveness?
Companies will change measurement tools. Instead of cost per impression, the measurement may be cost per engagement or cost per conversation. The cost will be rooted in time and salary, not a dollar amount in the advertising budget.
To learn more about Rachel Levy’s social media insights, go to her web site at www.rachel-levy.com and follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BostonMarketer.
The $64,000 Social Media Question: What Does My Client Want?
October 06, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
Social media ‘experts’ have a lot to say about the power of Facebook and Twitter for corporate America. Phrases or variations thereof that you may have heard in the past year:
Micro-target your potential customers.
Reinforce your brand.
Build your network.
Optimize your digital presence.
But the self-proclaimed experts are missing, ignoring, or downplaying a vital aspect of social media for the corporate user -- asking customers and clients what they want.
When was the last time you asked your customers and clients these questions regarding your corporate Facebook page and Twitter postings (or Tweets)?
What information do you want?
How will you use the information?
How can we make your life easier in presenting the information?
The premise is simple, yet it suffers ignorance. Find the needs of your customers and clients, then address those needs.
Imagine the power of a clear, directed, and effective message tailored to the needs of your customers or clients on your company’s Facebook page and Tweets.
Now imagine that power remaining unrealized because of priorities that have nothing to do with crafting effective communications for the customers or clients but everything to do with slick marketing directives, phrases, and goals.
If the customer or client comes first, then why aren’t companies focusing on them first in developing a corporate social media communications strategy?
david@davidkrell.com
Social media ‘experts’ have a lot to say about the power of Facebook and Twitter for corporate America. Phrases or variations thereof that you may have heard in the past year:
Micro-target your potential customers.
Reinforce your brand.
Build your network.
Optimize your digital presence.
But the self-proclaimed experts are missing, ignoring, or downplaying a vital aspect of social media for the corporate user -- asking customers and clients what they want.
When was the last time you asked your customers and clients these questions regarding your corporate Facebook page and Twitter postings (or Tweets)?
What information do you want?
How will you use the information?
How can we make your life easier in presenting the information?
The premise is simple, yet it suffers ignorance. Find the needs of your customers and clients, then address those needs.
Imagine the power of a clear, directed, and effective message tailored to the needs of your customers or clients on your company’s Facebook page and Tweets.
Now imagine that power remaining unrealized because of priorities that have nothing to do with crafting effective communications for the customers or clients but everything to do with slick marketing directives, phrases, and goals.
If the customer or client comes first, then why aren’t companies focusing on them first in developing a corporate social media communications strategy?
What Is A Social Media Specialist?
October 01, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
First, there were web sites.
Then, there were blogs.
Now, there is social media.
It’s all the rage. Reaching out to long-lost friends on Facebook. Acquiring new followers on Twitter.
And with every new rage come people who deign themselves specialists. They claim to understand how to navigate the path to potential, profit, and prosperity.
But what is a social media specialist? Does having 5000 friends on Facebook qualify someone as a specialist? Does having 50,000 followers on Twitter qualify someone as a specialist?
Answer to Question #1: No.
Answer to Question #2: No.
For businesses, using social media effectively requires a true understanding of the dynamics involved in crafting a message, not merely understanding how the technology of social media works. Social media provides a great opportunity to target and micro-target the desired audience and, in turn, potential customers.
Think of your message as a liquid. So far, you have poured the liquid into a variety of containers -- press releases, billboards, print advertisements. Social media is simply another container. And although the message may be altered to fit certain conventions of the media in question, the heart of the message will remain the same.
Understanding the fundamentals, idiosyncrasies, and challenges of social media will be paramount. But that understanding must be coupled with communications expertise. An effective social media specialist is a communications specialist. Someone who knows how to define, articulate, and communicate a message.
david@davidkrell.com
First, there were web sites.
Then, there were blogs.
Now, there is social media.
It’s all the rage. Reaching out to long-lost friends on Facebook. Acquiring new followers on Twitter.
And with every new rage come people who deign themselves specialists. They claim to understand how to navigate the path to potential, profit, and prosperity.
But what is a social media specialist? Does having 5000 friends on Facebook qualify someone as a specialist? Does having 50,000 followers on Twitter qualify someone as a specialist?
Answer to Question #1: No.
Answer to Question #2: No.
For businesses, using social media effectively requires a true understanding of the dynamics involved in crafting a message, not merely understanding how the technology of social media works. Social media provides a great opportunity to target and micro-target the desired audience and, in turn, potential customers.
Think of your message as a liquid. So far, you have poured the liquid into a variety of containers -- press releases, billboards, print advertisements. Social media is simply another container. And although the message may be altered to fit certain conventions of the media in question, the heart of the message will remain the same.
Understanding the fundamentals, idiosyncrasies, and challenges of social media will be paramount. But that understanding must be coupled with communications expertise. An effective social media specialist is a communications specialist. Someone who knows how to define, articulate, and communicate a message.
It's 10:00 am. Do you know where your employees are?
September 25, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
It’s 10:00 am. Do you know where your employees are?
There’s a strong chance they’re on Facebook or Twitter.
I would say MySpace, but that’s so 2007.
Even if your company blocks access to social media web sites, your employees can still access the sites through an iPhone or a BlackBerry.
The natural question to ask is: What are my employees writing on Facebook and Twitter?
The practical question to ask is: How are my employees’ postings going to affect my business?
To be sure, most postings will probably be benign.
Looking forward to the weekend.
Long business trip ahead. Busy packing.
The kids want a dog. We’re in negotiations.
But what happens when the postings are offensive, unwarranted, and violative of the precept that what goes on in the office stays in the office?
I can’t believe I partied so hard last night. Massive hangover. Totally not doing any work today.
The people on my team are idiots. Suffered through their moronic ideas in the weekly staff meeting.
As usual, my boss doesn’t listen to my view about the client. As usual, I get blamed when her strategy fails.
An argument can be made that a person’s postings on Facebook and Twitter are private. But an equally valid argument can be made that if a person’s postings negatively affect the company, then the company has a stake. Because of the infant nature of social media, companies are in relatively unchartered territory.
To begin, three questions need to be asked regarding employees’ use of social media web sites.
What is your company’s policy?
How will your company monitor employees’ postings?
If we do not enact a policy and adhere to it, how can business be affected?
david@davidkrell.com
It’s 10:00 am. Do you know where your employees are?
There’s a strong chance they’re on Facebook or Twitter.
I would say MySpace, but that’s so 2007.
Even if your company blocks access to social media web sites, your employees can still access the sites through an iPhone or a BlackBerry.
The natural question to ask is: What are my employees writing on Facebook and Twitter?
The practical question to ask is: How are my employees’ postings going to affect my business?
To be sure, most postings will probably be benign.
Looking forward to the weekend.
Long business trip ahead. Busy packing.
The kids want a dog. We’re in negotiations.
But what happens when the postings are offensive, unwarranted, and violative of the precept that what goes on in the office stays in the office?
I can’t believe I partied so hard last night. Massive hangover. Totally not doing any work today.
The people on my team are idiots. Suffered through their moronic ideas in the weekly staff meeting.
As usual, my boss doesn’t listen to my view about the client. As usual, I get blamed when her strategy fails.
An argument can be made that a person’s postings on Facebook and Twitter are private. But an equally valid argument can be made that if a person’s postings negatively affect the company, then the company has a stake. Because of the infant nature of social media, companies are in relatively unchartered territory.
To begin, three questions need to be asked regarding employees’ use of social media web sites.
What is your company’s policy?
How will your company monitor employees’ postings?
If we do not enact a policy and adhere to it, how can business be affected?
Corporate Communications and Social Media
June 13, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
Social media -- media where consumers, customers, and curiosity quenchers can interact with producers, distributors, and creators -- is here to stay.
Companies must adapt to the new paradigm of social media or otherwise increase the risk of damaging consumer relationships in an already fragile economy. The challenge intensifies if the company owns brands that rely on a personal relationship with the consumer, for example, children's entertainment.
Parents make the ultimate purchasing decision regarding children's entertainment in the household. Companies attempt to reach these consumers by investing time, money, and personnel resources to create elaborate product launches, marketing campaigns, and public relations strategies.
These methods all have their place in creating anticipation, building loyalty, and maximizing awareness. Old school methods communicate messages to media in the traditional sense, usually trade magazines (Hollywood Reporter, Ad Week) and consumer magazines (Parents).
Social media, however, allows the company to communicate directly with the consumer.
For example, a blog gives the company terrific flexibility in consumer relationships. In our scenario of a children's entertainment company, a blog can reinforce the company's brand values and reflect the parents' values. Because a blog may have opportunity for comments, the communication becomes a conversation directly with parents in the language they speak instead of the rather dry language used for press releases.
Additionally, a blog can provide information about children's safety, health, and education to reinforce the company's image of understanding the complex challenges involved in improving children's well-being.
Facebook also allows the company to build, maintain, and increase customer awareness of its brands. Besides giving information about the company's products, the company can create fun quizzes for the parents to find out which of the company's franchise characters match their respective personalities. Parents were once kids, too!
Also, when parents become Facebook fans of a character or the company, then the company has another outlet for immediate communication to customers.
Through awareness comes interest. Through interest comes decision. Through decision comes action. If this cycle is successfully repeated, customer loyalty increases.
Twitter requires more active maintenance of communications. In short, rapid-fire bursts of 140 words or less, the company can keep "followers" informed of deals, upcoming product launches, and reviews.
The responsibility for maximizing the value of social media falls squarely on the corporate communications team. The team needs to be proficient in three key areas:
1) History
Because the corporate communications staff comprises the "face" of the company in communicating with the media, staff, and consumers, it must show deep knowledge about the company. It begins with the history, particularly when the company revives brands. For example, when Warner Brothers released the film Batman in 1989, it was the first major relaunch of the property since the 1960's television show Batman starring Adam West. Warner Brothers heavily promoted the rich history of the Batman property in comic book reissues, press releases, and news stories.
Accumulating knowledge about a company's property is a deep challenge. Institutional memory fades with layoffs, cutbacks, and lateral moves within the industry. Corporate communications staff must build its own institutional memory through a variety of sources. In the entertainment industry, for example, fan sites, books, and previous press releases will be helpful in addition to the memory of long-time employees who still work for the company.
However, all information must be vetted. Trust but verify. No corporate communications staff member wants to be challenged because the information represented is false, incomplete, or misleading.
2) Listening
Corporate communications staff will represent the company's message, brand, and values to consumers, trade media, and mass media. However, different divisions in the company will have different priorities. Consequently, the elusive skill of active listening is an invaluable asset. Corporate communications professionals must incorporate the needs of the respective divisions and the company as a whole in its communication strategies.
3) Crafting a Message
Ultimately, the corporate communications team will have to craft a message. It can be a speech by the CEO to an industry group. It can be a press release touting a product launch. It can be an update about deals on Twitter.
Whatever the media, the corporate communications team needs to have a plan for each avenue of communication. What is the objective of sending the message? Who will be the voice of the company? What is the crisis communication plan?
Additionally, avenues of communication exist beyond courting editors in old media and consumers in digital social media. Executives can speak at industry conferences, author scholarly and mainstream articles in industry media, and speak to consumers at the grass roots level -- Kiwanis Club, Rotary Club, PTA, et. al.
In every case, though, corporate communications staff must have the writing, speaking, and networking skills necessary to ensure the message it sends is the message received.
david@davidkrell.com
Social media -- media where consumers, customers, and curiosity quenchers can interact with producers, distributors, and creators -- is here to stay.
Companies must adapt to the new paradigm of social media or otherwise increase the risk of damaging consumer relationships in an already fragile economy. The challenge intensifies if the company owns brands that rely on a personal relationship with the consumer, for example, children's entertainment.
Parents make the ultimate purchasing decision regarding children's entertainment in the household. Companies attempt to reach these consumers by investing time, money, and personnel resources to create elaborate product launches, marketing campaigns, and public relations strategies.
These methods all have their place in creating anticipation, building loyalty, and maximizing awareness. Old school methods communicate messages to media in the traditional sense, usually trade magazines (Hollywood Reporter, Ad Week) and consumer magazines (Parents).
Social media, however, allows the company to communicate directly with the consumer.
For example, a blog gives the company terrific flexibility in consumer relationships. In our scenario of a children's entertainment company, a blog can reinforce the company's brand values and reflect the parents' values. Because a blog may have opportunity for comments, the communication becomes a conversation directly with parents in the language they speak instead of the rather dry language used for press releases.
Additionally, a blog can provide information about children's safety, health, and education to reinforce the company's image of understanding the complex challenges involved in improving children's well-being.
Facebook also allows the company to build, maintain, and increase customer awareness of its brands. Besides giving information about the company's products, the company can create fun quizzes for the parents to find out which of the company's franchise characters match their respective personalities. Parents were once kids, too!
Also, when parents become Facebook fans of a character or the company, then the company has another outlet for immediate communication to customers.
Through awareness comes interest. Through interest comes decision. Through decision comes action. If this cycle is successfully repeated, customer loyalty increases.
Twitter requires more active maintenance of communications. In short, rapid-fire bursts of 140 words or less, the company can keep "followers" informed of deals, upcoming product launches, and reviews.
The responsibility for maximizing the value of social media falls squarely on the corporate communications team. The team needs to be proficient in three key areas:
1) History
Because the corporate communications staff comprises the "face" of the company in communicating with the media, staff, and consumers, it must show deep knowledge about the company. It begins with the history, particularly when the company revives brands. For example, when Warner Brothers released the film Batman in 1989, it was the first major relaunch of the property since the 1960's television show Batman starring Adam West. Warner Brothers heavily promoted the rich history of the Batman property in comic book reissues, press releases, and news stories.
Accumulating knowledge about a company's property is a deep challenge. Institutional memory fades with layoffs, cutbacks, and lateral moves within the industry. Corporate communications staff must build its own institutional memory through a variety of sources. In the entertainment industry, for example, fan sites, books, and previous press releases will be helpful in addition to the memory of long-time employees who still work for the company.
However, all information must be vetted. Trust but verify. No corporate communications staff member wants to be challenged because the information represented is false, incomplete, or misleading.
2) Listening
Corporate communications staff will represent the company's message, brand, and values to consumers, trade media, and mass media. However, different divisions in the company will have different priorities. Consequently, the elusive skill of active listening is an invaluable asset. Corporate communications professionals must incorporate the needs of the respective divisions and the company as a whole in its communication strategies.
3) Crafting a Message
Ultimately, the corporate communications team will have to craft a message. It can be a speech by the CEO to an industry group. It can be a press release touting a product launch. It can be an update about deals on Twitter.
Whatever the media, the corporate communications team needs to have a plan for each avenue of communication. What is the objective of sending the message? Who will be the voice of the company? What is the crisis communication plan?
Additionally, avenues of communication exist beyond courting editors in old media and consumers in digital social media. Executives can speak at industry conferences, author scholarly and mainstream articles in industry media, and speak to consumers at the grass roots level -- Kiwanis Club, Rotary Club, PTA, et. al.
In every case, though, corporate communications staff must have the writing, speaking, and networking skills necessary to ensure the message it sends is the message received.
The Power of a Handshake
June 09, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
Social media is a necessity for networking in the digital age.
From microblogging on Twitter to posting on Facebook to making connections on Linked In, social media allows us to exponentially expand our network with a few keystrokes.
Sometimes the old-fashioned way works, too. Nothing replaces face-to-face conversation, handshakes, and body language.
When I attended the International Trademark Association Annual Meeting last month in Seattle, I was part of a group approximately 7500 strong. Like other trade association conferences, the pace is challenging.
From early morning to late night, I created new connections, reinforced existing relationships, and cultivated new business. I met people at workshops, seminars, and after-dinner parties in a continuous loop during the course of a few days.
And the conversations all began with a handshake.
I got an assignment to write an article about legal writing through a chance meeting with an editor from Marcasur, a Latin American intellectual property law magazine. She asked about Write This Way and the conversation ended with the assignment.
I learned about an article in need of an author for The Trademark Reporter, INTA's scholarly journal. Topic -- Trademarks in Virtual Worlds. My discovery came through a conversation with a friend at a Mariners game. My friend is a premier intellectual property litigator and a member of the editorial staff at The Trademark Reporter. I immediately volunteered to write the article about this relatively new phenomenon.
A couple of hours before the Mariners game, I attended a cocktail hour for the media. Since I had an extra ticket in my block of tickets for the game, I invited a law firm marketer whom I met at the cocktail hour. He and I are having lunch today to discuss a potential web site copywriting project involving one of his international intellectual property law firm clients.
At the same cocktail hour, I met a British legal journalist who later agreed to be a member of the writing workshop I will moderate at the INTA 2010 Annual Meeting in Boston.
I also connected with an already existing contact who graciously arranged to send the materials for the Write This Way CLE workshops to the decision makers at her downtown Manhattan law firm. Getting in front of the decision makers is the first step to creating new business. To be fair, our conversation in Seattle took place via E-Mail, however, we first met a couple of years ago at a legal seminar -- not by following each other on Twitter, friending each other on Facebook, or joining each other's network on Linked In.
To be sure, those actions have a definite place in networking. One ignores social media at his or her peril in the digital age.
But don't discount the power of a handshake.
david@davidkrell.com
Social media is a necessity for networking in the digital age.
From microblogging on Twitter to posting on Facebook to making connections on Linked In, social media allows us to exponentially expand our network with a few keystrokes.
Sometimes the old-fashioned way works, too. Nothing replaces face-to-face conversation, handshakes, and body language.
When I attended the International Trademark Association Annual Meeting last month in Seattle, I was part of a group approximately 7500 strong. Like other trade association conferences, the pace is challenging.
From early morning to late night, I created new connections, reinforced existing relationships, and cultivated new business. I met people at workshops, seminars, and after-dinner parties in a continuous loop during the course of a few days.
And the conversations all began with a handshake.
I got an assignment to write an article about legal writing through a chance meeting with an editor from Marcasur, a Latin American intellectual property law magazine. She asked about Write This Way and the conversation ended with the assignment.
I learned about an article in need of an author for The Trademark Reporter, INTA's scholarly journal. Topic -- Trademarks in Virtual Worlds. My discovery came through a conversation with a friend at a Mariners game. My friend is a premier intellectual property litigator and a member of the editorial staff at The Trademark Reporter. I immediately volunteered to write the article about this relatively new phenomenon.
A couple of hours before the Mariners game, I attended a cocktail hour for the media. Since I had an extra ticket in my block of tickets for the game, I invited a law firm marketer whom I met at the cocktail hour. He and I are having lunch today to discuss a potential web site copywriting project involving one of his international intellectual property law firm clients.
At the same cocktail hour, I met a British legal journalist who later agreed to be a member of the writing workshop I will moderate at the INTA 2010 Annual Meeting in Boston.
I also connected with an already existing contact who graciously arranged to send the materials for the Write This Way CLE workshops to the decision makers at her downtown Manhattan law firm. Getting in front of the decision makers is the first step to creating new business. To be fair, our conversation in Seattle took place via E-Mail, however, we first met a couple of years ago at a legal seminar -- not by following each other on Twitter, friending each other on Facebook, or joining each other's network on Linked In.
To be sure, those actions have a definite place in networking. One ignores social media at his or her peril in the digital age.
But don't discount the power of a handshake.