Posts Tagged ‘success’

Posted on May 17, 2011 - by Wayne Sutton

How to manage social media success like American Idol 2011 contestant Scotty McCreery

I’m not a huge American Idol viewer as a matter of fact I don’t watch a lot of TV outside of V (now canceled), Smallville (series just ended), sports and news. But when a North Carolina native makes it on the big screen especially in a reality contest I try to tune in and support. This year for American Idol, Scotty McCreery from Garner, NC is one of the top three finalist. Scotty is the third North Carolina native that has made it to the top three joining Clay Aiken from Raleigh, NC and Fantasia Barrino from High Point, NC. As I stated in my Ignite Raleigh talk a few years ago “we own that show”. Regardless if Scotty is crowned the next American Idol he has won in so many ways already .

This past Saturday Scotty returned from Idol headquarters to provide his Garner hometown fans with a concert. During his return Scotty signed a lot of autographs, put in a few miniutes at his old job at Lowes Food and gave a lot of hugs to screaming fans young and old. There even was a short but packed Scotty / Garner, NC parade. It was suppose to rain Saturday so I was staying in but decided to watch some of the Scotty mania on TV and check to see if any of my friends were tweeting from the event. Yes, Scotty’s concert was broadcasted live on WRAL and from Twitter I saw that @isellmoney and @lisasullivan were in attendance… I think. Also on twitter were a few Scotty McCreery hashtags to follow such as #Scottystock, #goscotty and #garnerNC. During “Scottystock” aka the live concert Scotty McCreery was surprised by country music star Josh Turner. Over all it was a great day for Scotty McCreery, American Idol and Garner, NC.

While watching Scotty’s success going from a small hometown grocery store cashier to now national superstar it reminds me of how … wait for it… yes. It reminds me how some businesses can succeed in using social media. After a business/brand has use social media to gain new customers, get more followers/fans if that’s their goal or increase sales numbers how does a business manage the success? I’m glad you asked. Here are 10 ways you can manage your social media success like Scotty McCreery.

1. Be Humble

Scotty thanked everyone for voting him in to being one of the final three American Idol 2011 contestants.

2. Stick to what you’re good at

Scotty, did try a few songs outside of his natural element but he knows what he’s good at and doesn’t stray to far from it. After you find a winning formula build off of it but don’t forget what lead you to your success.

3. Act surprised when you meet the rock stars

I not 100% sold if Scotty knew Josh Turner was coming on stage or not but when you meet an experience veteran it’s good to show a little respect and try to think about way you can work together unless they call you a clown.

4. Thank Everyone

Scotty knows that without his fans he wouldn’t have made it to the final three. The same for your social media success. Every now and then you need to just say thanks to your blog readers, Facebook fans/likes, twitter followers and/or friends who share your content.

5. Give “free” Hugs

Everyone loves a good hug. We’ll almost everyone. Regardless you may not be able to give your social media supporters a free hug but you may have a group discount or a free product to over them for supporting you. Information is also considered valuable. Continue to provide good valuable content that lead to your success.

6. Work the media

When you have the media’s attention let them have full access. Let the media help you tell your story but always remember everyone is watching so be on your best behavior.

photo via Idol chatter

7. It’s ok to cry

Showing a little emotion shows that you’re human and helps builds relationships.

8. Be awesome all the time

It’s hard but the phrase is called “being on” after you become successful everyone except the “haters” think you’re awesome. Always remember that. From that point on… be awesome all the time or at least do you best faking it.


photo via Idol chatter

9. Live up to the hype

After you have some social media success the expectations bar has been lifted and the world is waiting to see what will you do next. I’m not sure how Scotty is going to preform this week but he has a lot of hype to live up to and I wish him well. Also think about this in terms of the Old Spice commercials, they were cool and funny at first but now I’m ready for something new.

10. Use the right tools

Scotty is active on Twitter sharing his experiences with his followers around the world. I think he is actually sending the tweets. I’m not sure if he’s using Facebook or other platforms but for him right now Twitter helps him share his story in real time and hopes help him win American Idol.

11. Keep it simple

K.I.S.S.

Scotty from one NC guy to another good luck. You know you’re already a winner.

How do you manage your social media success?

Posted on August 8, 2010 - by Wayne Sutton

Does a Whole Foods outdoor Foursquare blackboard ad equal instant check-in success?

Photo by: dpstyles™

Foursquare co-founder Dennis Crowley @Dens posted a photo to his flickr stream of a Whole Foods location with a Foursquare blackboard outdoor ad/sign. The ad reads “Every 5th check-in receive a small scoop of house-made gelato from out gelato bar. Redeem offer (before it melts) at our gelato bar in our second floor cafe.” Is the idea of the ad ground breaking or new or the next level of “social media marketing” or location-based marketing? No, but it is smart. It’s smart that the owner/manager of the Whole Foods location understands that it takes an effort from the business to attract new and existing customers to check-in with @foursquare. It’s smart to understand that you can not just offer a check-in special and think people will automatically know about it and it’s smart to understand that in order for foursquare or any location-based promotion to work you have to see it as a partnership with the location-based platform. Meaning the location, in this case Whole Foods is endorsing Foursquare over other location-based applications.

I’m sure the Whole Foods location with the blackboard ad has seen an increase in check-ins since the sign has been placed outside but is it enough to make users check-in? I’m not 100% sure but I believe the answer is less about the blackboard ad itself and more about what Whole Foods is offering their customers who check-in on the blackboard ad. The blackboard sign reads “every 5th check-in” meaning I would have to visit the location 5 days just to receive a free gelato. If I visit Whole Foods everyday then the check-in promotion would be like a once a week reward. But what about the once a week Whole Foods customer? I would think a promotion such as “check-in and receive 10% off or Check-in between 11- 2 for a free gelato would be better if you’re going to use a blackboard ad. Something to make customers walk in the door and receive an instant reward for checking in. Also what if I don’t want a gelato.

Regardless it’s a good start not only for Foursquare but for other location-based platforms. Businesses have to understand if/when they decide to offer a location-based promotion to their customers it’s going to take some OFFLINE effort to bring awareness to the check-in special. It may be a window cling, a QR code, a table tent, a PA announcement or a blackboard.

Wouldn’t be awesome if you were at @WholeFoods & they announced over the PA system the first 5 people to check-in on aisle 5 wins a free ice cream by scanning a QR code. The QR code would verify that the person is there.

With TriOut we consult with business when they’re considering a location-based promotion and encourage them to use a mix of offline and online marketing to promote the check-in special. A few use window clings and table tents and others have let customers know via email and social media marketing.

Interesting read: Big fan of Whole Foods, but this Foursquare thing is the wrong direction by @jeffhilimire

Have you seen other offline examples of location-based marketing?

Posted on October 15, 2009 - by Wayne Sutton

BlogWorld Notes: Social Media Success Stories panel at @blogworld #bwe09

Social Media Success Stories Panel:
Samantha Gammell (Oscar Mayer), Justin Levy (Caminito Argentinean Steakhouse), Brian Wiegand (Alice.com), Frank Eliason (Comcast)
Panel url: http://www.blogworldexpo.com/blog/2009-speakers/?p=564

Notes:

Brian Wiegand

Frank Eliason
Put the passionate people in
Care about your company and product but be passionate about your customers
Do try to be like others, but be yourself and be passionate about what you love
You can learn a lot about a brand by searching Twitter,
Companies don’t improve customer service on numbers but by the story of customers
Which social network works better, (comcast, Frank) Twitter, it depends on your customer base
Facebook is good for meeting people you know already.
Everything we do is about the community and finding a way to understand and help.

Samantha Gammell
Uses blog, twitter, and facebook fan page
People love content and interactions

Justin Levy
Instead of focusing on trying to be on the front page of google, they focused on using social media and saw an good increase in traffic and sales.

Using blogs from users to talk about the products vs just having employees blog about the company product.

Audience Questions:
Q. Why does being ranked on Technotri matter?
A. Some companies what to be cataorized as the thought leader and they measure that by how they are ranked on http://technorati.com

Q. Trying to get your company to use twitter for customer service?
A. Start by tracking tweets, have person do more than twitter such as checking email, forums and blogs
A2. Have everyone involved not just one person

Q. How do you personalize the content posting from your brand using social media
A. Companies need to personalize the brand, people don’t care about logo but people
A. People want to know the people behind the company

Q. Advice to get people engaged and use a new social media community
A. You have to build a community around things that are interesting to the community
B. Once the community is establish, love the community, treat them well and engage with them

Q. What has social media done for the wienermobile
A. Allowed them to meet more people
B. Reach more people where the demand has been greater
C. Before you start using the tools make sure you’re real and have a true authentic voice

Q. Does it matter to being 1st in the space.
A. By being first you are looked as the though leader or first one to do something but it still comes back to how you use it.
B. You have a unique opportunity but never stop learning

Q. As a large company, how should they use social media
A. Every person in the company should not being using social media
A2. Companies should have an aproprerate social media policy
A3. Build a method where employees can manage interal communications
A4. Make sure you have the right employees using social media

Q. How have you changed the way you are using old “legacy” media (print, radio)
A. They don’t promote the profiles, they try to meet the customers where they already are.
B. Try to mashup both traditional media and new media in various creative ways

Q. What would be the one thing you would do better if you had to start over?
A. Hire better
B. Plan and make sure the entire company is behind social media
C. Wish they would have used tools in different ways first before others have

Posted on June 15, 2009 - by Wayne Sutton

14 things I learned about Matt Mullenweg and WordPress at WordCampRDU

Photo via WordCampRDU

This past Saturday, I had a chance to participate in WordCampRDU. Matt Mullenweg (Ma.tt), the co-founder of WordPress and AutoMattic, was the keynote speaker at the event. After WordCampRDU several of us had a chance to spend some time with him over burgers and bbq downtown Raleigh. Matt had my full attention, as I always try to learn as much as I can from successful individuals, especially those in the online/technology world. Here are 14 things I learned about WordPress and Matt. Some were new features of WordPress, while others were reminders about existing features that I hadn’t used.

1. VideoPress:
VideoPress is WordPress new video hosting feature. It costs $59.97 a year as an upgrade feature for WordPress.com users, but there is also a beta VideoPress plugin for WordPress.org users. You can custom design the VideoPress player and additional player branding features are on the way.

2. WP.com:
Matt recently acquired the domain WP.com and told the WordCampRDU crowd that it “may” become a tinyurl service for WordPress blogs. It’s something Matt has thought about, but he mentioned how spammers abuse existing tinyurl services. I’m confident that the WordPress team will find a way to implement this feature.

3. P2 WordPress Theme:
I’m not going to say Matt doesn’t like twitter but, have you really taken a look at the P2 Theme for WordPress? It’s not your normal blog theme. By installing the P2 theme you can have your own microblog platform with threaded replies. I use the P2 WordPress theme on http://smhustle.com. Search for other examples of P2 being used to see the many things you can do with this new theme or watch the video below:

4. Press This Button:
WordPress includes a Press This button under the tools section that allows you to blog from any web page. It acts like a bookmarklet for your blog.

5. Matt is a “stat-a-holic”:
Matt love stats. Just ask Matt about downloads of WordPress 2.8, plugins being installed, or how much bandwidth his company uses and he can tell you the numbers off the top of his head. If math is required, he can calculate it easily on his iPhone.

6. WordPress for iPhone app:
You have to like a someone who’s honest about his own product. Matt mentioned in his keynote that he’s not a fan of WordPress for iPhone application and to expect a new version a few months after iPhone 3.0 OS has been released.

7. Matt is more than just WordPress:
At just 25 years old, Matt has already accomplished more than what some have done in a lifetime. With those accomplishments comes experiences and although Matt co-founded WordPress he sometimes would rather talk about other topics such as entrepreneurship and life. He told us a story about a talk he given about a man who had a perfect memory. If you ever get a chance to meet Matt ask him about it.

8. Matt is not the CEO of Automattic or WordPress:
I was writing a blog post on my iPhone blog and Matt kindly corrected me that he’s not the CEO but the co-founder.

9. It’s AutoMattic and not Automatic:
You get it it? It’s Auto”Matt”ic … nice one, Matt.

10. Matt is a forward thinker:
Matt is a forward thinker. We were talking about how the Kindle and the iPhone touch was ready a few years before public knowledge. Matt and the WordPress team are already working on making WordPress better to work with software and hardware three years from now. “If you start now you’ll be ready vs starting in three years and playing catch up.” Matt says.

Photo via Jason Keath

11. Matt is not a Mac guy:
Surprisingly, Matt doesn’t carry a MacBook around, but a Sony PC. He also started Palm users group back in the day. But he does have an iPhone now and most of the AutoMattic team uses Macs.

12. What Matt likes about NC?
Matt loves NC sweet tea. We tried to take Matt to one of our famous BBQ places but it was full. I think he still ordered BBQ, but I didn’t get a chance to see what he thought about NC BBQ vs other states BBQ.

13. Email a post to WordPress.com
Did you know you can create a unique email address for your WordPress.com blog and email post with attachments. You can even email .mp3 files to your WordPress.com blog and they’ll post and play automatically.

14. OpenID and Jabber:
WordPress.com is an OpenID provider and you can use your WordPress.com user name to for Jabber chatting. I think there’s something WordPress may have to turn on to get Jabber to work with your username, or it may be a user error on my part. But it does work. Update: Matt emailed me to let me know the way the WordPress Jabber account work is username@im.wordpress.com.

Overall all after spending a few hours with Matt, I left with the impression that Matt is one of the smartest and coolest guys in technology. He doesn’t get as much credit as he deserves for contributing to the success of others, and to the internet as an whole. Thanks, Matt, for creating an awesome platform and I hope we’re able to cross paths again soon.

Photo via Kipp Bodnar.

Also I did get a chance to interview Matt for the upcoming relaunch of WayneSutton.TV. Be on the lookout for the interview online soon.