Randall Craig, Social Media, Social Networking, Speaker, Associations, Business, Consulting

13 Social Media New Year’s Resolutions

by RandallCraig December 20, 2011

Are you one of those people who have given up on New Year’s resolutions? If you are active on the Social Web, an annual review – and a few resolutions – can make a significant difference to your effectiveness. Here’s my take on a few you should consider: This Week’s (Year’s) Action Plan: Review and [...]

All the world’s a stage

by RandallCraig December 13, 2011

…and all the men and women merely players. Shakespeare may have said this in the 1600′s, but it is more true than ever today. Politicians, celebrities and others have always known that an audience was watching and judging. Today, different paparazzi watch and judge us – we call them followers, friends, and connections. We narcissistically [...]

Who is your Mahamood?

by RandallCraig December 6, 2011

Ever wonder about the impact you made with those you’ve touched? Whether you would be remembered or not? And for what? Every so often, we get a stark reminder of this: someone doesn’t remember you – but you think they should. Or someone comes up to you and reminds you about a special conversation – [...]

Repurpose or Repeat?

by RandallCraig November 30, 2011

Have you ever considered how many ways there are to express one of your ideas? Here’s a short list: A book A whitepaper A case study A brochure A blog post A newspaper op-ed A voice message or phone call A tweet A magazine article A TV series A documentary A sitcom A news commentary [...]

Viewpoint: Planning for an Uncertain Future

by RandallCraig November 23, 2011

In 1997 there was no Google. In 2002 there was no Facebook. There was no Twitter in 2004, and the iPad only made it’s debut in 2009. There is no indication that the pace of innovation will slow, so how can you plan for the future when the target is moving , and moving quickly? [...]

What Social Media Tier are you on?

by Randall November 11, 2011

Every organization – and every individual – can find themselves somewhere on the three-tier Social Media Engagement Index. Where are you? Passive: At best, passive users have a profile on a few sites, but do very little within Social Media except for responding to the occasional connection request. Benefit: passive users will be found when [...]

Trust Takes Time

by RandallCraig November 3, 2011

How long does it take to make a sale? And is it faster using traditional marketing and sales techniques, or Social Media-based ones? In traditional marketing and sales, advertising informs prospective customers about a product or service. Those who have a need show up and make their purchase. In the more sophisticated business-to-business sales process, [...]

Viewpoint: Risky Business

by RandallCraig October 26, 2011

Picture this scenario: An employee gets charged with a serious offense and the company’s name gets mentioned repeatedly in the news reports. The reporters found the connection to your organization by scanning through Social Media. Or this scenario: A subcontractor tweets (or posts pictures) celebrating the conclusion of a major, confidential project. This alerts competitors, [...]

Build It and They Will Come: Social Media Promotion Strategy

by Randall October 19, 2011

While Build It and They Will Come might work in the movies (remember Field of Dreams?), it doesn’t quite work that way in the world of Social Media. Yes, you can put up a Facebook page, LinkedIn profile, or YouTube channel, but how can you truly attract followers? And how can you truly drive engagement? [...]

Consistency

by Randall October 12, 2011

How often have you struggled to show up on time for a meeting, only to be kept waiting as others stumbled in 5-10-15 minutes later? Or have you ever tuned in to your favorite TV show, only to find that it was “rescheduled” for some other time? Or travelled to a faraway store, but finding [...]

Reflections on Steve Jobs and the impact of Apple

by Randall October 7, 2011

Steve Jobs was a visionary: incredible focus, a market disruptor, a tech genius, a serial entrepreneur, and so on. All true, but there is also something else – a thread that underlies and connects everything that Apple does: their focus on the empowered customer. From day one, this was reflected in the user experience. It [...]

Social Media Damage Control

by Randall October 6, 2011

Picture this scenario: you get an email from your manager, letting you know that a complaint (or a picture, or a video) about your organization has gone “viral”. You check it out, and indeed it is embarrassing… and it is everywhere. What do you do? In a previous post, I suggested several things to consider [...]

The Power of a (Broken) Promise

by RandallCraig September 28, 2011

Have you ever been disappointed, frustrated, or annoyed with an experience with a person or organization? In today’s Social Media world, suffering in silence need not be your only option. You can Tweet, Blog, post to Facebook, create a YouTube video, write on a review site or even create your own complaint site. You can [...]

Reading beyond the lines, part two

by RandallCraig September 20, 2011

Have you ever thought about how to become more creative? One way is to expose yourself to ideas just beyond “the usual”: ideas that challenge you to think differently, or expose you to experiences that are well beyond your immediate knowledge. With so much available on the web, it is easy to forget that books [...]

Social Media Stop Sign

by Randall September 13, 2011

How long ago did you (or your organization) start your Social Media “work”? Likely, a few years ago. First came LinkedIn: you filled out your profile, asked for (and responded to) connection requests. Then you asked for (and responded to) recommendation requests, asked (and responded to) questions, and joined a number of groups. Then you [...]

Viewpoint: Is the Cloud for the Birds?

by Randall September 1, 2011

If you read the business or technology press, you’ve probably heard about “the cloud”. And if you believe the ad copy, just about any problem can be solved merely by “putting it on the cloud”. Can this really be true? Is the hype even close to reality? And what is this cloud, really? The cloud [...]

Viewpoint: The case against social media regulation

by RandallCraig August 16, 2011

Should social media be regulated and controlled? Should hardware and network providers be forced to open a one-way window for authorities to monitor the flow of conversation? These questions are once again being asked, as supposedly “civilized” societies erupt into violence, riots, vandalism, and hooliganism. (Vancouver Canada and London England both come come to mind.) [...]

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