Back in early 2007, one of the first social media consulting jobs I had was with a publisher. We were promoting a particular author through blogs. Back then pitching bloggers to get exposure for authors was a fairly new idea and there weren’t a lot of people doing it. After we identified the bloggers we wanted to reach we contacted them and offered a free copy of the book in return for their thoughts about the book on their blog. This was a pretty effective approach for a while but then a lot of other publishers started doing it to and by mid-2008 you were lucky to get a blogger to just take a book and review it quickly, much less review it at all.

It wasn’t that reaching out to bloggers for exposure was a bad idea all of a sudden, it was that getting a free book in the mail meant the blogger had to put a lot of time into turning that into a good blog post. It required the blogger to read the book, develop their thoughts on it, and then post their book report online. The more popular bloggers were getting dozens of these requests a week. That’s a lot of books to read and that’s when the whole thing came to a screeching halt.

Why Access?
In order to get the attention for the authors I was working for I needed a new approach and I found one that’s continued to work well since then: access. When bloggers get access to an author, even it’s it’s a 10 minute interview on the phone, that’s worth a lot more than a copy of the book. Access to anything or anyone makes you feel special. That’s why people want backstage passes to concerts and all-access tickets to sporting events.

Access may be missing from your social media efforts and if so, you’re missing one of the true opportunities to connect with people. When people get access they feel like they know something that most people don’t. That has value, and all social media marketing is, is just doing the necessary things to earn attention from the people you’re trying to reach. Being valuable to them is one of the very best ways to earn that attention you’re wanting.

What’s Access?
Access isn’t just for reaching out to bloggers. Granting access may mean you start responding to people in your comments on your own blog. It may mean you connect via Skype with a person who wins a contest you conduct. It may mean you get a lot more active on your Facebook page by responding to the people who talk to you. It may mean you respond to direct messages on Twitter. It may mean you reply to every email personally. It may mean you share information on your blog that shows life at your company that nobody else gets to see. All of that is access.

Types of Access
Over the last few years I’ve used access of some kind in every social media campaign or strategy I’ve worked on. There are a lot of different ways to grant access. Some are highly personal and some aren’t, but they all work when you keep the “earning attention through adding value” idea in mind.

There are six categories your access can fall into:

• Live access
• Recorded access
• Online access
• Offline access
• Individual access
• Group access

So here’s a sample of five ways the categories above work together to give you numerous options and some ways I’ve used them specifically:

1. Live, Online, Group Access: Used this method to give a small group of bloggers 30 minutes to do Q&A with an author using a webinar tool. Tools like ooVoo, Dimdim, and Free Conference Call are great for live, online, group access…and live, online, individual access too.
2. Recorded, Online, Individual Access: Used this method to have an organization’s president record personal messages to key influencers he knew about a new product the company was launching. The people saw their personal message on a personalized web page branded with the new product. The personalized webpage contained product information and free downloads related to the product. All you need here is a webcam or a Flip video camera to record the video.
3. Live, Offline, Group Access: Used this method to connect an author with a group of fans when he was visiting their city. Twitter and Facebook are great for coordinating these kinds of things.
4. Live, Online, Individual Access: Used this method for a series of one-on-one discussions between bloggers and an author. The authors used these discussions as the basis of blog posts about the author’s new book.
5. Recorded, Online, Group Access: Used this method as part of a scavenger hunt used in a marketing campaign that had online and offline components. The videos pushed the game forward and anyone playing along would get the next clue in the game from the videos.

Word of mouth marketing is the holy grail of the marketing world. It’s the most attractive and effective strategy, yet it’s also the least predictable and uncontrollable. If someone ever tells you they’re going to develop a word of mouth marketing strategy for you, what they really mean is that they’re going to develop something they hope people will talk about, thus resulting in word of mouth marketing. Whether or not people will talk about it is something you have no control over. If you’re promised anything other than giving it the best shot to be talked about, someone is overselling their services.

The great thing about social media is that it allows any business to position itself well for word of mouth marketing. Here’s why I say this: word of mouth marketing is people telling others about something. That’s the core of social media marketing and a content promotion strategy. You want to use content that people will find valuable and then pass along. The social media tools simply let this happen exponentially faster than the old word of mouth marketing. Just think about how quickly something can spread on Twitter or Facebook for instance. It’s still word of mouth…just at hyper speed.

Two years ago Ketchum released the findings of a study that verifies this. Here are two interesting quotes from the study:

“Advice from family and friends is the No. 1 source that consumers turn to when making a variety of decisions ranging from purchasing consumer electronics to planning a vacation.”

“Communicators rank their company’s own Web site as the most effective way to share corporate news or issue a response to a crisis, but consumers rank company Web sites sixth and seventh among places they turn to for corporate news and crisis response, respectively.”

What we see here is verification that people telling other people about things is the best promotional tool and that despite any company’s high regard for their own website, the people are looking many other places first. This isn’t really new news, it’s just more of validation. If you’re a social media marketer or the champion for it in your organization…consider yourself validated.

The the latest episode of The New Mediology, Nathan and I discussed a PR blunder that relates to bloggers, marketing people, PR pros, and anyone interested in social media marketing in general. You can listen to the podcast (online or via iTunes) to get the full story.

The quick version is that several weeks ago the firm Brody PR pitched a large list of bloggers, podcasters, and social media/technology media outlets. The pitch itself was bad and missed the mark, but the way it was done and with a technical issue that went along with it, the whole situation made Brody PR a case study traditional PR people doing a poor job of understanding how to pitch in social media. The whole situation provided an opportunity for numerous bloggers to comment on the situation.

The bottom line is that anyone trying to reach out to people for business purposes using social media MUST understand what they’re doing or it has a high probability of blowing up in their face. Just ask Brody PR. A mere Google search of “Brody PR” brings up numerous negative posts about this situation. That’s hardly good for business but it’s the reality of business today. In the words of my childhood heroes G.I. Joe: “Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.”

In the most recent episode of The New Mediology podcast, Nathan and I discussed two opposing views of social media. One view looks to social media solely for making money. The other view looks at social media for marketing. The big question then, is this: is social media for business primarily for revenue generation or a necessary (or unnecessary) expense?

The difference in these two perspectives is not whether or not revenue is important. Both would agree that it is. Rather, it’s the way in which they use social media to get to the revenue that changes based on the perspective. The “solely for making money” view is only interested in how the tools can be monetized very quickly. This view tends to not have the patience or persistence needed to really begin seeing social media work.

People with the view that social media in business is more for marketing know that they must first understand the rules of engagement, the culture, the techniques, methods, and tools that are out there. They realize that it’s just as important to know what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. They see this investment of time and energy as an expense that will later return in revenue.

Both models of social media exist, but I think it’s wiser to take the long view of social media by adopting the mindset that it is going to be an expense first, but the revenue will also come in time. There are two many cases already to prove this. Just as Scot or Jeff.

You can listen to the full discussion on this topic on the podcast. It’s available to listen online or in iTunes.

When only a few people have voices, those with the voices are the big guys and everyone else is a little guy. Businesses generally pay more attention to the big guys than the little guys. After all, the big guys have a voice. The little guys don’t. The little guy doesn’t really matter.

As more people have voices, there are less little guys and more big guys. Businesses then try to differentiate between the biggest big guys and the regular big guys. The little guy still doesn’t matter.

When everyone can have a voice because voices are free and accessible, everyone can be a big guy. Businesses now have to decide if they’ll pay attention to all current and future big guys or ignore everyone because it’s easier. The little guy still won’t matter, but it doesn’t matter that the little guy doesn’t matter, because you don’t have to be a little guy.

Today everyone can be a big guy. United Airlines discovered an unhappy big guy recently. They thought they were talking to a little guy, but they didn’t realize that everyone can be a big guy now.

And Don’t Forget the Little Guys…

Little guys still exist, but not because of discrimination or a system keeping them down. They’re still little guys because they’ve chosen to.

They’ve chosen to ignore the opportunity to claim their voice.

They’ve chosen to ignore the opportunity to be heard.

They’ve chosen to act like there are still big guys and little guys in the old system.

The little guys will continue not to matter either out of choice or ignorance.

If you’re in business, you know there are still little guys, but not nearly as many as there used to be. A little guy today can be a big guy tomorrow. What does this mean for how you handle customer complaints, dumb policies, and employees who don’t realize there really aren’t little guys anymore?

Maybe it’s time to to have a discussion about big guys and little guys with your management team and employees. Two weeks ago the term “United breaks guitars” didn’t exist. Today there are almost 700,000 references on Google for that exact phrase. Because of social media, there’s really no such thing as a little guy anymore.

A few weeks ago I came across a social media presentation online that included a slide with the image you see here. I don’t know how the presenter described the slide, but he appeared to be laying a foundation for social media’s relationship with a company’s web strategy and Internet marketing strategies.

The image struck me right away because, in a single image, I realized there is a whole other category for social media’s relationship in the world of marketing from the one I personally hold. Here’s what bothered me right away with this particular image:

• It implies that social media isn’t a marketing strategy.
• It implies that social media is one of three coequal online strategies.
• It implies that these three things coexist nicely.
• It implies that they are all necessary.
• It implies that these three things are separate and distinct.

If I had to redraw this image is would simply have a maroon circle that says “social media marketing strategy” and leave it at that. That’s how I see it. Your web strategy has to be more social now. Not because you even choose to, but because that’s what it means to be online.

Why Web Strategy Is Unnecessary
I don’t personally hold a separate category for “web strategy” apart from “social media strategy.” It’s all the same thing in my book because social media just means you’re online in the current (and highly evolving) online climate. “Web strategy” existed when there were webmasters in organizations. They were the only people who could make things magically appear on the World Wide Web.

That’s not the way it is today though. Everyone in your company can publish online and everyone in your company is a marketer. This is happening every day whether you intend for it to or not. They are already creating your web strategy even if you didn’t plan for it. The degree to which you formalize your social media strategy and leverage the marketing opportunities is up to you.

When you say web strategy, you’re talking about how you want to be online. When you say social media strategy, you’re talking about how people already are online. Only when the two are the same will you see it start to work.

My Bias Toward Internet Marketing
I have to confess right off the bat that I feel like the term “Internet marketing” has been hijacked to mean affiliate marketing, online multi-level marketing, and things of that sort. Internet marketing is probably one of the better terms that could be used to describe social media marketing. It’s broad enough to not get tied into a single kind of tool or technology. Unfortunately nobody uses the phrase to mean that so we have to say “social media strategy” to make it distinct and assure people that we’re talking “new web” rather than “old web.”

Internet marketing as most people know it has very little application to real business. The people who seem to do well appear to succeed by convincing others that they’re Internet marketing experts and hold the secrets to success that just happen to be in their latest ebook available for $19.95. I put “Internet marketing” in an mental folder marked “Other” and just leave it there. It doesn’t even enter into the conversation about marketing online for business.

8 Reasons Why Social Media Is The Best Marketing Strategy Online
Social media is probably the best marketing opportunity you’ve ever had. Here’s why:

1. You can access all the tools you need for nearly free.
2. You can find the right people you want to reach more easily than ever.
3. You can know exactly what your customers are saying about you without wondering anymore.
4. You can earn people’s attention by creating content they find valuable.
5. You can connect with people directly even when they don’t contact your customer service department.
6. You can engage and empower your biggest fans.
7. You can influence your greatest detractors (or at least the people listening to them.)
8. You can generate leads, close sales, network with more knowledge, spy on your competitors, be your own media outlet, and manage your company’s reputation.

Internet marketing strategies don’t do this. Web strategies (in the old sense) don’t do this. Social media marketing strategy does this. It’s your web strategy and your marketing strategy. It might change your business strategy. It probably should become your customer service strategy and your PR strategy. Social media isn’t just tools and technology. It’s the way to be online today because it’s the way people are online today.

In January I wrote about how social media marketing works best when you have both the correct marketing mindset and the right online tools to accomplish the strategy.

With all of this in mind, watch the video below. It wasn’t intended to be a parable about social media in business, but I think it works really well.

The new tools and technology are red.

The new marketing mindset is blue.

Change is purple.

Ironically, this is a great endorsement for Seth Godin’s book Purple Cow.

Blip from Sean Mullen on Vimeo.

Last week I posted an interview with online video experts and Internetainers Rhett and Link. One of the topics they discussed has stayed with me the last few days.

The idea of “viral video” is one of the more mythic topics of the online marketing world. When marketers say “viral” they really mean “magical”, “mystical”, or “spontaneous”. Those words don’t sound professional though. We marketers know it would be silly to tell our boss we’re going to create a “magical video”. That wouldn’t fly. Viral video seems to have been the term that works. The trouble with this is that “viral” anything almost never happens.

Viral Almost Never Happens
As Rhett and Link noted, truly viral videos are accidental successes. Viral videos weren’t created with the intention of going viral. They were filmed and just happened to go viral after the fact.

This isn’t to say that videos with a lot of planning and intention can’t succeed. They just won’t really be viral. They’re filmed with the intention of generating a lot of traffic on the hope that people will talk about it and pass the links along. That’s not viral. That’s “passalongable”.

Some videos are more passalongable than others. Rhett and Link make some highly passalongable videos. So did Oren Lavie on his recent music video. Cadbury’s done it too. OkGo is one of the best.

You get the idea. These were intentionally created to appeal to people so they would pass them along. They succeeded. It looks like viral, but it isn’t. They’re just highly passalongable.

You and I will probably never create a viral video. If we do, we won’t even know it until it’s already happened. We can, however, try our best be create things that are passalongable. That’s a worthy goal. Just don’t mistake of trying to go viral. Instead, create a video, blog post, or magazine advertisement for that matter, that’s passalongable. It’s all about adding value to people you want to reach to the point that it’s so good, they just have to tell someone else about it. Heck, maybe you’ll even deem this post passalongable.

Last week I was giving a presentation, and on one particular slide I had a comparison between the “old Internet mindset” and the “new Internet mindset,” and I had a revelation. Here’s what I had on the screen:

People with the old mindset use the Internet as something that is:

• Controlled
• Corporate
• One-directional
• Distant

People with the new mindset use the Internet as something that is:

• Transparent
• Informal
• Collaborative
• Conversational

What struck me last week is that the old mindset described above still pertains to many individuals and organizations, but it also applies less today than it did a year or two ago. In another year from now, it will apply to even fewer people and at some point in the future, the “old Internet mindset” won’t even exist. Neither with the “new Internet mindset”. The day is approaching quickly when the new mindset will be the mindset.

When we talk about old and new mindsets, the tendency is to consider them as options or choices as in, “You can do the old way or you can do the new way. It’s up to you.” But there’s a problem with this thinking. What we consider the “new” way today will be the assumed mindset for using the Internet down the road.Today’s “new” is tomorrow’s “standard” mode of operation.

If you’re not there yet, or at least moving in that direction, don’t be surprised if you wake up someday and find that your online strategy is completely obsolete.

Over the last few weeks I have had a series of conversations about authors and social media. In every single case the conversations have revolved around how (and in some cases “if”) authors can benefit from social media. My answer in not only a resounding “Yes, authors can and do benefit from social media as a marketing platform,” but I believe they are also well positioned to flat out own social media. Here are three reasons why:

1. Authors create content and content is one of the two social media currencies. Conversation is the other currency.
2. Authors know they have to provide valuable content to succeed. Good social media marketing is based on the mindset that you earn attention through valuable content or conversations. Then, and only then, do you have the platform to introduce your business interests.
3. Authors know they have to reach the right people to succeed. Authors know they’re not writing books that appeal to everyone. They just want to appeal to as many of the right people as possible. This is a fundamental key to great social media marketing. When you take the focus off a “how many people will we reach” approach to a “who are the right people and how many of them can we reach” approach, social media will work. Authors seem to get this intuitively. Social media lets an author find and be found by the right people.

Many people are trying to figure out how social media can work for them right now. Authors just happen to be naturally suited to win with social media. The very things authors create happen to be what grows their audience. The audience is then well primed to spend money to support the author, which allows the author to create more valuable content. For an author with great content, it’s a cycle for success.

The bottom line is that authors are naturally positioned to succeed and flourish if they create content people find valuable. It’s almost always worked that way in the world of print. It’s even more that way in the social media world. It just so happens that today the content is also the best marketing tool.