Hey Jen,

In terms of Social Media and blogging as a channel in that, it's important that the interaction for the largest audience of people (not power users) is simple, convenient and tugs at their heart strings somehow. People may or may not already be your customer, but at the end of the day they want to feel like they are making a difference and getting some type of fulfillment of their experience. Whether that be submitted feedback, commenting on videos, creating cool UG ads for brands or visiting your virtual event on Second Life.

It's all engagement, the rules are just different and the possibilities are endless. Keep is simple, take your wins and losses, learn, BUT be a part of your customer community.

cheers,
BJ

BJ, thanks for your feedback. You make some excellent points, but I especially agree with the notion that customers want to be heard. I've also found that giving customers a way to voice their opinions is a powerful tool to creating community and inspiring brand evangelists.

It seems that most companies and marketers only focus on customers and company brand. There is another aspect to this, Employer Brand.

While talking about a company and product one should also talk a bit about what it is like to work there. To be part of the team.

Social Media can be a powerful tool to find new employees, create referral networks, build talent pools. Other than time, an inexpensive tool when compared to a subscription to a job board, cost of ads, and time/energy spent in finding employees.

The most effective blogs, and this goes for any company, are the ones which establish a human connection between the company and consumer. The benefits you receive from social media are in direct proportion to the number and quality of these connections; the customers you connect with are your best evangelists and when you are looking for talent, this is the pool to pull from.

The least effective use of blogs is to treat them as just another channel for PR to travel from the company to the customer; blogs are not conducive to one way conversation and lack of engagement will frustrate consumers.

You spoke about it in a prior blog post, but it bears repeating, you can't “source out” your blog to your PR firm or your advertising department; truly powerful blogs are the ones which break down the barriers of bureaucracy that normally exists between customers and executives and enable true customer driven innovations.

Be the expert. If a startup is entering a new space or a space occupied by a good number of competitors, it is important to be knowledgeable. It may seem obvious since most startups begin by someone becoming an expert in a particular market and then building software/relationships in that market.

I have recently seen startups that aren't experts. Community isn't important anymore it is crucial. If your startup is not lead by an industry expert willing to engage with customers intelligently, then the startup will be battling up hill from the start.

If you don't have that talent on your team already (and that is quite all right) – get it! And fast!

Great post Jenn and what a great opportunity for you to share your expertise with others!!

Strangely enough I was just reading the latest WIRED last night and came across the article “Kill Your Blog”…very interesting take on how blogging is SO 2004 and that newer, brighter, less cluttered ways of reaching out are taking over. Those routes being Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, video – the hot mamas (I like to call them) of 2008.

The way search engines, social bookmarking sites and other media units are publishing blogs these days you'd think you'd have to get a journalist or communications degree to compete with some of these posts! The blog-landscape isn't what it used to be – and that leaves US (the people who LOVE what we do and want to tell the world about it) no choice but to move onto other less cluttered mediums…like Flickr, Vimeo, Twitter, etc. etc.

If you're a CEO, what better way to reach your customers than through a 30 second video introduction, confession, story, idea, tantrum, or brainstorm?! Not only do your customers now put a personality to a name but a FACE to a personality/name. Golden boy of this idea is our favorite GaryVee Like your video above – I would much rather watch and listen to you; emphasizing words, speaking with emotion, looking at me, than read words. Wouldn't you?

I see corp. blogs moving away from plain old text blogging to something much richer, more emotional, attaching, inviting. Something customers can feel a bond with. Isn't that what every customer wants, to feel they're essentially loved? I do at least. <3

Sarah,

I think that you are correct. I haven't killed my blog yet but a friend of mine has changed his drastically – as well as killed off his forums (which was quite a hot bed for heated movie and music discussions).

Check out his new blog: http://www.mikull.com

He just got into Friend Feed and to be quite honest – if you think about it – his new site probably says more about what he is interested in and offers a better communication portal then his original blog.

Since communication is much broader then just a post and comments – I think that this makes sense.

However, when it comes to a product and a startup this may not be the case. I think that offering thought leadership in your market is important, and posting comments on Flickr, Twitter and other people's blogs may not cut it.

Hi Jenn,

It's Jennifer Grove from Life In The Cove (http://lifeinthecove.typepad.com). I came across your site via Google Alert for my own name and had to take a peak and see who this other Jennifer (Van) Grove was!

I am President of Calista Cove, an online accessories boutique: http://www.CalistaCove.com. I gave up all forms of traditional advertising and pr this season in favor of blogging. I had hired a Chief Blogger for a short period of time but found that my customers didn't really join the conversation until I got involved myself and really put my opinions, thoughts, etc out there over the past month. It's been a very rewarding experience ever since.

My blog has truly helped me build a community in a short period of time and has been the best way for me to interact directly with my niche audience of preppy accessory enthusiasts. I have always used email as a means to communicate with customers but blogging has been ten times more effective in building trust, developing loyalty, sharing my brand, sharing photos (and having a good laugh at my own expense!), etc. While there are definitely product reviews and store-specific plugs, it's predominantly a fashion and lifestyle journal/magazine for my friends and fans, a place to share opinions and reviews. I even have customer “reporters” from across the country who share their own pictures, regional trend reports, etc so that I keep it fresh and keep everyone involved and engaged in the lifestyle aspect of my brand.

My next step is to incorporate video into my new media outreach efforts so I'm looking forward to learning more from you and your readers — so far I have found your site and the comments from your audience to be very inspiring. I'm so glad I found you — thanks!

Hi Jennifer, thanks for sharing your experience. You touch on something that I think is incredibly important for other business owners to understand and emulate. You put yourself out there, and because you're the President you're letting your audience connect with someone that they see as pretty important, influential, but most importantly real. It sounds like you're doing some really amazing things with your brand and your community!

My advice when it comes to video is to keep it simple. What you're doing with your blog is perfect and if you can emulate your blogging techniques and include them in your video efforts, your audience will be happy with the results. Don't waste time trying to acquire fancy equipment or worry to much about editing your videos. Just sit down in front the camera, speak from the heart, and ask for your audience to participate in the comments.

By the way, thanks for the huge compliment on my blog. Feel free to contact me directly if there's any specific topics you're interested in or if you have any questions you think I can answer.

Hi Jenn,

It's Jennifer Grove from Life In The Cove (http://lifeinthecove.typepad.com). I came across your site via Google Alert for my own name and had to take a peak and see who this other Jennifer (Van) Grove was!

I am President of Calista Cove, an online accessories boutique: http://www.CalistaCove.com. I gave up all forms of traditional advertising and pr this season in favor of blogging. I had hired a Chief Blogger for a short period of time but found that my customers didn't really join the conversation until I got involved myself and really put my opinions, thoughts, etc out there over the past month. It's been a very rewarding experience ever since.

My blog has truly helped me build a community in a short period of time and has been the best way for me to interact directly with my niche audience of preppy accessory enthusiasts. I have always used email as a means to communicate with customers but blogging has been ten times more effective in building trust, developing loyalty, sharing my bra

Great post Jenn and what a great opportunity for you to share your expertise with others!!

Strangely enough I was just reading the latest WIRED last night and came across the article “Kill Your Blog”…very interesting take on how blogging is SO 2004 and that newer, brighter, less cluttered ways of reaching out are taking over. Those routes being Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, video – the hot mamas (I like to call them) of 2008.

The way search engines, social bookmarking sites and other media units are publishing blogs these days you'd think you'd have to get a journalist or communications degree to compete with some of these posts! The blog-landscape isn't what it used to be – and that leaves US (the people who LOVE what we do and want to tell the world about it) no choice but to move onto other less cluttered mediums…like Flickr, Vimeo, Twitter, etc. etc.

If you're a CEO, what better way to reach your customers than through a 30 second video introduction, confession, story, idea, tantrum, or b

Hi Jennifer, thanks for sharing your experience. You touch on something that I think is incredibly important for other business owners to understand and emulate. You put yourself out there, and because you're the President you're letting your audience connect with someone that they see as pretty important, influential, but most importantly real. It sounds like you're doing some really amazing things with your brand and your community!

My advice when it comes to video is to keep it simple. What you're doing with your blog is perfect and if you can emulate your blogging techniques and include them in your video efforts, your audience will be happy with the results. Don't waste time trying to acquire fancy equipment or worry to much about editing your videos. Just sit down in front the camera, speak from the heart, and ask for your audience to participate in the comments.

By the way, thanks for the huge compliment on my blog. Feel free to contact me directly if there's any specific topics you're interes

at first glance it looks like a multiple-personality-disorder conversation, esp. with the 2 jennifers – Jennifer :

I'm so confused.

Hey Jen

I'd say the best reason you could give organisations for blogging is to 'provide the backstory'. The blog is the only place on a corporate web site where user can get inside the head (and soul) of the organisation. This is critical – especially for startups who will lack the brand… it's a brilliant way of proving how smart and useful you are…. The rest of a web site is eye-glaze meterial – the corporate positioning bla bla pages…. The blog is where I learn about what makes you tick and whether or not we might be a good fit.

Backstory is everything on the web – where the competition is a click away and true, face-value differentiation is scarce….

Cheers

Roger

Hey Jen

I'd say the best reason you could give organisations for blogging is to 'provide the backstory'. The blog is the only place on a corporate web site where user can get inside the head (and soul) of the organisation. This is critical – especially for startups who will lack the brand… it's a brilliant way of proving how smart and useful you are…. The rest of a web site is eye-glaze meterial – the corporate positioning bla bla pages…. The blog is where I learn about what makes you tick and whether or not we might be a good fit.

Backstory is everything on the web – where the competition is a click away and true, face-value differentiation is scarce….

Cheers

Roger