Trace Cohen's Insight

Breaking the social norms

Posts Tagged social media

1 Q&A With Thought Leader and Futurist Brian Solis

May 26

Posted by Trace Cohen in creativity, Interview, passion, PR, Public Relations, social media | No Comments

Social this, social that, everywhere you look someone is “socializing” something. I don’t need someone to tell me how to be social, I want someone to SHOW me how to be social, which is why I am apart of the Pivot Con conference coming up this October 17th and 18th (http://2011.pivotcon.com/). And who better than Brian Solis to host this conference to really show us how to do social right.

As part of the build up to the conference, they offered the first 100 people the opportunity to ask Brian one question and I was lucky enough to just make it in time. As a PR professional and social media user I wanted to know how these two ideas where converging as brands build their own community and rely less on traditional media and more of their own outlets. My question to Brian is below with his response:

What are your thoughts about the current state of PR and how it has evolved/changed over the years? Social media has had a huge impact on it and I was wondering what tools you have found to be most effective to amplify your message or that help “listen” ?

“Social media is the latest technology to impact public relations but the industry really was blind sighted by the internet and it is just now starting to realize that controlling messages, pitching stories, and leveraging media and influencers is the least of the opportunities facing PR in the future. A lesson I learned early on was understanding where consumers, or the people we were trying to reach, went for information. It was and is about dissecting how they discovered and shared relevant insight and what communities held their attention and why. I realized that public relations was presented with an opportunity to become the influencer. While still relying on other influential people and organizations to help tell the story, my mission then became how do I tell the story in a way where my audiences recognized my company as the authority instead ofsimply being viewed as a public relations professional. More here:http://www.briansolis.com/2009/05/reviving-traditional-press-release/ AND http://www.briansolis.com/2009/06/state-of-pr-marketing-and/“

 

My thoughts to his response:

YES YES YES! PR is THE influencer now (through their clients) to their communities by telling the story that they can relate with. Why do we have to rely on press to tell the story that we can now tell ourselves? With twitter, facebook and my blog, I can know interact with user/readers/communities and go directly to the source, more or less bypassing some of the media.

I hope to see everyone at Pivot Con October 17th and 18th to learn more!

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Social Media Rant: Anyone can push a button but how do you make it count?

Jul 5

Posted by Trace Cohen in breaking social norms, business, gen-y, Linkedin, social media | 3 Comments

As a recent graduate (still weird to say) and avid user of social media I have numerous profiles across the web. For the past two years I have adamantly tried to get my friends and fellow Gen-Yers to embrace social media to assist them in their networking and job searches. While I was successful on a few fronts, it never caught on as originally intended.

Lately I have been getting invites from friends to connect on LinkedIn and other professional networks, which is great. Unfortunately I have drawn a line between my professional and personal online life and take it seriously. So when I get an invitation to connect on LinkedIn with a generic message “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.” from a friend with an incomplete profile, I get a little twitch in my neck. As much as I love my friends and want to see them succeed, I refuse to accept their invitation. If they don’t take the time to complete their profile and think that by pushing a button with the click of the mouse that they can join my network then they have missed the boat on the meaning of social media.

When I get an invite on LinkedIn or any other professional network from someone I don’t know with a generic message, I simply reply to them asking for an introduction and why they would like to connect. The point of social media is to be S O C I A L. If I connect with someone whom I don’t know for unknown reasons then they are of no value to me and can actually be detrimental if someone asks for an introduction to them. This is almost like the only debate about quality over quantity. Is it better to have 10 close friends or 100 acquaintances?

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Welcome to The Wild Wild West of Social Media

Mar 4

Posted by Trace Cohen in inspire, passion, social media, technology | 2 Comments

Right now, it is like the wild wild west for social media. New networks and platforms are popping up each day, which only convolutes the playing field even more. This makes first time social media users feel like they are behind the curve when all they really need is a clean Facebook profile, a blog to become a thought leader and possibly a twitter account to start out. The biggest misconception I hear day after day is that Gen-Yer’s are avid users of social media, which I hold to be a fallacy. Most of my friends don’t have a blog or comment on any and only know about twitter because everyone is talking about it. Please don’t get me wrong though, there are some amazing kids out there changing the world with social media everyday.

I believe that the largest users of social media are our parents and the older generations because they find it fascinating and are intrigued by it while we are jaded by it. This poses problems when an employer Googles your name, which they will, what they find (or don’t find!) will be their first impression of you. Using simple techniques you can manage Google results of your name and control how you are perceived online.

For anyone starting out with social media, here are a few things that you need to be conscious of:

  1. Set goals/milestones for yourself before you start to use social media
  2. Add value to the conversation before you ask anyone for anything
  3. You’re not special and won’t become a star over night, it takes time
  4. Comment on other blogs and @ reply them to get involved
  5. Monitor your reputation online using Google, Google alerts and other search engines.
  6. Be transparent, no one likes a liar or talking to robots

So what’s next for social media and when will it start to slow down and build a solid foundation? Will we be able to regulate it with sheriffs in each domain or have an overarching law enforcement agency? What’s next for social media?

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The Generational, Technological Black Hole

Feb 23

Posted by Trace Cohen in breaking social norms, business, change, social media, social norms, technology | 2 Comments

While these may sound like they coincide, they actually are two separate things that overlap with some gray area. Also the title is in a particular order as the generational differences are first an foremost the underlying issues at hand, the technology is just what makes it more convoluted and scary.

We are in the midst of a recession the likes of which we haven’t seen since well, The Great Depression of the late 1920′s. Is this how we want to be remembered though when we look back on this like a bottle of wine, “Oh yes, I remember 2010, that was a bad year.” The answer is no, because I won’t let it happen and neither should you.

Our Generation – I’m talking roughly about Gen-Y – is known for being rebellious, strong headed and misunderstood. We are the product of our parents generation who unfortunately didn’t grow up with the luxuries that we are so accustomed too, for instance our abundance of information thanks to the technology that binds us all together. We have grown up in a faster moving society then ever before and it will only continue as we move forwards because of the Law of Singularity, which states that “through a law of accelerating returns, technology is progressing toward the singularity at an exponential rate.” Gen-Y is only trying to assimilate itself to the current times but at the same time being bombarded by studies, research and corporations to try and get into our heads to see what makes us tick so in the end we can buy their products. It’s the sad truth but the truth of the capitalistic society that we live in.

Now, Technology only fuels and clouds everything I just talked about. It is true that we grew up with the Internet so to speak, so we “understand” and “get” it. Whatever that means is in the eye of the beholder based on what they want to hear. The BIGGEST misconception I hear day after day is that:

“Gen-Y is connected to the Internet at all times, loves to use social media and knows technology like the back of their hand.”

While the first part is generally true, the rest of the sentence is way off. Most of my friends don’t have a twitter account – let alone know what it is besides what they see on TV. They do Facebook though – a lot – but does that really count as social media if it is only posting pictures and comments on each others walls? I have found that it is actually the older generations and professional who use Social Media (Blogging, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn etc.) effectively because they think that we use it and want to profit from it.

So here is my Black Hole scenario:

  1. Everyone wants to get in touch with Gen-Y through Social Media, which most of us don’t use. Statistics show this

  2. Social Media “experts” teach us how to effectively use Social Media to accomplish step 1. It is generally older people teaching older people how to reach younger people.

  3. By the time someone finally “understands” Social Media and how to use it, it is to late because a new technology comes out and Gen-Y has moved on.

  4. A vicious circle of learning and trying to apply it. This is were you get lost in the Black Hole.

No one has all the answers because everything is constantly changing. If you are really passionate about Social Media or whatever it is that you might do, it is up to YOU to keep up to date on it and learn from other people. The “Black Hole” is not a bad thing to get sucked into as long as you don’t get lost. My advice to you is that “Nothing is as it appears to be” until you see it and feel it for yourself. Take everything at face value until you determine it’s validity for yourself.

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Focus Focus Focus: You Need a Target to Hit

Feb 18

Posted by Trace Cohen in breaking social norms, business, change, creativity, entrepreneurship, innovation, inspire, passion, social media, technology | 4 Comments

My father happens to be a New York Angel, so I have read a lot of business plans (all confidential) that have gotten companies funded. As of late, more and more of them are becoming increasingly general in terms of their “target” market and who will use their product/service. To give the benefit of the doubt, the majority of them are tech start-ups that are just looking for mass adoption – a shot in the dark that even Robin Hood has a hard time doing. I think that this is a symptom of the digital revolution and the maelstrom of web 2.0 social media.

With the advent of social media, a lot of marketing plans (I’m guilty of it as well) revolve around the notion that if you create a blog, you tweet or Facebook then you’re all set. FALSE.  Creating a marketing plan revolves around your strategic marketing initiatives and the way you will execute them, that are set up to fulfill a goal or milestone you have set in place.

To gain some focus, here are a few things you should remember when defining your target market and reaching them:

  1. Define your target market with as much detail as possible. It is great that you have a social media plan that covers a broad range of markets but you need to pick one that you can focus on. This will help you with the wording of your content to make it pertain to a certain demographic.
  2. Back up your target market decision with reasons why you chose them over another market. You obviously chose your market because they are the consumers interested in your product/service and will pay for it. You’re convinced of this, but you need solid evidence and proof to back up your decision as to why you choose them.
  3. Create a plan to deliver value and information – Online that is all you are known by. This sounds easy but each market is only receptive to certain kinds of marketing initiatives and wording. If you are targeting Gen-Y, you generally want something short, quick, simple and to the point opposed to the older demographics that generally put a little more thought into it. The wording though is the most important because it needs to factual and sell the product but it also can’t offend anyone and discourage them.
  4. Join social networks or communities that your target market is in. It’s hard to believe but there are actually other social networks out there beyond Twitter and Facebook that you need to find. There is a blog, network, community or forum out there that your market participates in that you need to be active on. Find them!
  5. Execute step 3 in a timely and ordered fashion. This is one of the hardest things to do because you have so much information that you want to deliver but you need to be patient. Social media and marketing initiatives take time to settle in and deliver results for the most part. If you put out to much information, it can look like spam but if you don’t put out enough then you don’t seem active and no one will notice you. Delivering value is a delicate balancing act that you need to master quickly.
  6. Analyze the results and plan accordingly. This is critical to the success of your campaign and it’s effectiveness to your target market. While social media doesn’t have a set formula to determine ROI, use the information and data you have to figure out your reach and influence. For all of initiatives, you can do the same thing.
  7. Change your target market if necessary. No one is perfect and can predict the future. Either you chose wrong based on research you had or your product/service changed since you started and pertains to another market – it happens often! You now have more information and experience than before and can make a better decision.

With my first company, we initially started out targeting college students and Gen-Y (all 18-32ish) as we felt they could use our service the most. After a year of tedious work trying to get them to use our service, we realized that it was an uphill battle with little to no returns. We actually changed our target market in order to realign our focus on a market that could really benefit from our services with a realistic chance of acquiring them as a customer.

The lesson is that on paper, one market looks very appealing but once you start to interact with them, you understand their true intentions, wants and needs. Sometimes the spray and pray method works but it is always better to start small then think big.

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Social Media and Why I Blog

Dec 10

Posted by Trace Cohen in Uncategorized | No Comments

With the advent of Web 2.0, the power was given back to the people and the floodgates that once kept “the man” as the only voice have opened. It is now up to the people to democratize all this information as it continues to find new ways to reach and affect us. We are now entering into the “Information Age,” a time when information finds us because everyone is constantly connected in one way or another more than they know. As we progress farther in, the information overload we are currently experiencing will soon become more filtered and targeted towards specific niches once the lines are drawn. It is now up to us to be apart of this change and shape it based on our needs and wants because we are currently experiencing a paradigm shift like never before.

Reasons Why I Blog

Online rules are blurred and being rewritten everyday as technology changes, evolves and is shaped to fit our needs. This is where opportunities present themselves and dreams are made. It is said that everyone has their 15 minutes of fame at some point during their online journey. As glorious as this sounds, I don’t want 15 minutes of fame and to burn out but a lifetime of value associated with my name and brand because of my interaction with others. And I do this in a variety of ways.

Personal Branding

Relatively new term that has come about over the past few years that is basically asking you to dig down deep to find out who you really are.  This blog will be the hub of my personal brand online as I continue to cultivate it. Anyone who comes upon this website and blog will gain a better understanding of what makes me tick and why I am who I am. I wrote everything here and I stand by it.

Online Reputation Management

In tandem with personal branding, it is necessary to control how you are perceived online and you can do that in a few ways. SEO is the primary way to do this by controlling what comes up in a Google search of your name because you WILL be Googled at some point. Also through social media and community interactions can you grow your presence online to expand your influence.

Technology

To be honest with you, I am a tech fanatic and love keeping up to date with all the new gadgets and gizmos. Most of this can be readily available online and I will discuss any new, cool and exciting things I find. I also attend CES every year to get my fix.

SEO

Search engine optimization is the bread and butter of driving free traffic online to your blog or website. This is how you position yourself online in the eyes of a search engine and how you control how you will be found.

Social Media

No reason to preach here, just wanted to say that the golden rule of social media is that YOU ARE NOT SPECIAL. The power behind social media is to add value to the conversation and build a community around ideas. Thought leaders are being created everyday because they can inspire others in an unselfish way.

YOU

In the end the only reason I do what I do if for you. Social media, blogging and networking doesn’t work if there is only one person involved. This is a conversation that takes two to tango, so please engage!

This blog isn’t unique, just like anyone else it is used as a channel to voice my opinions, thoughts and ideas. I want to be able to create a community around the interactions made here so that it can be passed on to others.

Now that I told you why I blog, please let me know why you blog!

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