Social networking and the ego trap


My first business card 
Originally uploaded by Pete Kim.

I received my first "real" business card during an Arthur Andersen internship.  I didn’t have many people to exchange them with, but I did have hundreds of embossed heavy-weight scraps of paper that made me feel important.

Last week, I was sorting through handfuls of business cards collected over the past five years or so.  Most of them could be discarded for one of two reasons – either the contact was irrelevant (e.g. Swedish online payment processing) or I have better information via other means.  LinkedIn and  Facebook are today’s new business cards, delivering profiles with rich content and dynamic means of maintaining connections.

However, I’ve fallen into the social media "ego trap" not once, but twice.  Two summers ago I had to prune my LinkedIn network to regain usefulness, removing 700 connections. I made the mistake again and recently had to prune Twitter of 800+ "friends" as well.  Maybe that’s even the third time – the first being my stack of old paper cards.

I should’ve known better.  Social networks are valuable for building and maintaining relationships.  Updates and status feeds preserve the signal strength of current ties and boost the signal of weak ones.  But adding connections with low relevance and connection result in static, increasing in annoyance as one’s network grows.  Useful social networks require a high signal-to-noise ratio.

I have an idea on why I fell into the trap, which I’ll explain in another post.  But for now…

Is it just me, or have you ever found yourself caught in the social media ego trap too?

The five-tool employee


Before I get into this post, first of all – thank you. I’m flattered by the reaction to my last post about making a career transition and your well wishes.

Part of what I’ve been doing for the last week has been speaking with people about jobs. Some are looking to join me. Others are looking to join Forrester. A few just want to leave their current roles for a change of scenery. However, the majority of people I’ve spoken with are more invested in the “what if” possibilities of a job switch and not ready to actually put some money on the table to make things happen. There’s nothing wrong with that – sometimes, what someone really needs is a vacation. Or a hobby, like gardening or video games. Or an open ear for venting.

But then there are the people who are ready to change. And the ones I want to work with are the five-tool players. In fact, I think every hiring manager wants these players, whether it’s a role in a startup or a Fortune 50 organization. You see, in baseball a five-tool player is someone who can hit for average, hit for power, run the bases shrewdly and quickly, throw, and field.

In a corporation, the five-tool employee is one who:

1) gets things done with results to show for their effort – no excuses for failure
2) accomplishes things that are remarkable – above and beyond what’s expected
3) exercises sound decision-making skills, acting quickly and decisively
4) communicates well and can convince others to act
5) deals well with ambiguity, makes order where others see confusion

Let’s take this analogy further. Baseball’s five-tool players are most often outfielders, sometimes infielders, and almost never catchers or pitchers. Likewise, corporate five-tool employees are most often in management, strategy, and marketing roles, can be found in IT and finance, but rarely appear in other areas.

If you’re looking, or looking to hire – think about the tools you possess or want to have on staff. The five-tool employee is difficult to find and worth retaining once on board…and will have many chances to succeed, because they naturally create value for their companies and opportunities for themselves.

And if you’re a five-tool player – drop me a line…!

Now’s the time, the time is now

Today is my last day at Forrester Research.

On Monday, I’ll officially be joining Jeffrey Dachis to build a new company focused on enterprise social computing.  You may have heard about this venture a few months ago.

Why am I leaving?  Because I believe this new company offers both professional and personal growth opportunities.  I’ve learned a lot at Forrester over the past 2.5 years about effective writing and public speaking/presenting; along the way, I’ve won internal “Best Research” and “Top Keynote” awards.  And there are other skills I’ve acquired elsewhere that will now be put back into play, e.g. strategy formulation, project management, technology development, and budget/staff management.  Now I’ll refine and develop new skills like business development and entrepreneurship.

Things are going pretty well for me at Forrester. George Colony is one of the smartest CEO’s I’ve worked for.  At Forrester, an analyst can reinvent her/himself and stay refreshed, challenged, and engaged.  So now, sitting near the top of my 2nd career development S-curve at Forrester is a great time to contemplate both internal and external directions – from a position of strength, affording time for patience, introspection, and due diligence.

That contemplation has led me to my decision to ramble on.  My work experience includes a lot of companies you may recognize:  General Electric, Prudential Securities, Deloitte & Touche, Arthur Andersen, Coopers & Lybrand, Andersen Consulting, Fidelity Investments, Razorfish, PUMA AG, Stride Rite/Keds, and Forrester Research.  So why join a company that has yet to be named, without decades of brand history?

Because I believe the market opportunity is huge.  And we get to build this one exactly how we want.

At a macro-level, businesses must adapt to a new world of work.  As digital-born natives enter the workforce and all consumers assimilate new digital behaviors, organizations have no choice but to evolve from their legacy operational models, built on principles from the industrial revolution.  We are now in the social revolution – a Groundswell of change.  The idea of “command and control” has been turned upside down and the enterprise must avoid being crushed by the inverted pyramid.

Over the past two-and-a-half years I’ve been focusing on two major concepts:  social computing and customer centricity.  They fit very well together; becoming “socially successful” today requires that companies use process and technology to facilitate internal and external alignment.  Your market is calling for this in a voice that gets louder every day.  Unfortunately, many companies try to ignore what they’re hearing – and I see an opportunity in helping enterprises listen, learn, and take action.

Our yet-to-be-named firm will help companies and their new leaders unlock value from social computing within the enterprise, driving customer-centricity and effective engagement.  The evidence of success will be found in culture and profit.

We will be hiring, partnering, building, and advising in the near future.  If you’re interested in working with us to help change the world of work, email jobs at dachisco.com.

Companies CAN’T “join the conversation”

My colleague Jeremiah recently posted about why some don’t need to join the conversation.  He makes two key points:

  1. Brands can and should use a combination of social computing tools can help brands engage individuals – e.g. voting, tagging, and sharing – which are not "conversational."
  2. All people do not want to participate with you in the same way.

About a week ago, I blogged about how it’s what’s on the inside [of an organization] that counts.  That means people, i.e. individuals on your payroll must be ready to participate in social media.

Your brand can’t blog.  Unless you’re going for comedy, you shouldn’t have a corporate mascot like Aunt Jemima, Jack In The Box, or the Brawny Man blogging.

If you or someone in your company is thinking of blog authorship behind the curtain of a corporate logo, stop and make sure that your organization is actually ready to get social with the outside world.  Because a company can’t participate in a conversation, only individuals representing a company can.

This thinking comes naturally to individuals in firms who understand this internally.  Fortunately, it can be taught. (But some will never learn – all people do not want to participate in the same way.)

I want to believe [that Twitter is useful]


  Why Twitter is Over Capacity 
  Originally uploaded by Jeremiah Owyang.

Twitter – do you love it or hate it?  I think your response to that question depends on why and how you use the application.  This drives the type of content you’ll find valuable, the number of people you follow, and how you use text notifications and tracking.

Giving the continuing technical difficulties that Twitter has been facing – apparently birds moving whales can be quite difficult – I’ve been getting less value from my network.  I use Twitter as a heads up tool, to get advice, to connect with virtual communities, and to bridge communications from online to in-person (esp around events).  I was following almost 1,000 people – so getting information was either serendipitous when tuning in or via @/DM.

But I’m not getting text notifications like I used to.  So, inspired by some conversations and posts with/from Mitch Joel, Greg Verdino, and Mack Collier, I’ve decided to shift the way I’m using Twitter to make the conversation more manageable.  Similar to pruning my LinkedIn network, I unfollowed about 80% of my network, leaving only people whose names and/or pictures I recognized immediately, as well as people who I could remember having a helpful conversation with at some past point.

(remember is the key term here – my memory isn’t fantastic and I’m bound to have offended some. My apologies, I will add you back.)

To me, Twitter content works best when personal.  Whether it’s something you’re doing or something you’re thinking.  So I’m trying a new approach to Twitter, because I want to believe it’s useful.  Maybe it’s just microblogging that’s useful and Twitter will ultimately pull a Friendster.

I think I’ll go log into Pownce, haven’t been there for a while…

Webcast with Visible Technologies and Microsoft

Vt_ama_webcast
On Thursday May 22nd I’ll be participating in a webcast with Blake Cahill from Visible Technologies and Marty Collins from Microsoft.  We’ll be talking about "Unlocking Social Media’s ROI through Engagement & Participation."  Registration is free and we’ll begin at 10 am Pacific/1 pm Eastern.

If you are on the fence about brand monitoring or just want to learn more about how it’s being put to good use, this is your chance to ask questions.

Three key applications for brand monitoring

I just had another piece of Forrester research publish – this one on brand monitoring.  Lest you think I went on a Kerouac-ian benzedrine + caffeine writing tear…I didn’t (but what’s the frequency, Kenneth?).

As you may know, I’ve been following the brand monitoring market for a couple of years and since publishing the Q3 2006 Forrester Wave on the space, it’s clear that the market has shifted.  That’s why I plan on updating the Wave in Q3 2008.

In the meantime – it’s clear that not all brand monitoring firms are created equally or should be used for the same purposes.  But marketers who don’t work to understand the differences before sending out an RFP or running a pilot are in essence using Plinko as their selection process.

I believe that three primary applications of brand monitoring have started to surface, based on buyer goals, vendor capabilities and intent, and business needs.  Clients can read the full research, "New Uses For Brand Monitoring," which explains how and why the three applications matter.  The summary:

J.D. Power and Associates acquired brand monitoring firm Umbria,
combining industry-focused consumer satisfaction and rankings with
consumer-generated media (CGM) insights. The deal highlights the use of
brand monitoring as a key input to formulating marketing, brand, and
product strategy. Interactive marketers and social media strategists
interested in using brand monitoring must choose a tool based on
business objectives, recognizing that the market now addresses three
distinct applications: 1) mining customer insight to formulate
strategy; 2) quantifying social media to compare with other metrics;
and 3) identifying influencers in order to participate in online
conversations.

Much deeper analysis forthcoming later this year.  In the meantime, Forrester clients – feel free to set up an inquiry via your account manager to learn more.

P.S. I think our Forrester Marketing Blog Feedback Survey is still open…

An Agency’s First Step To Getting “Connected”

When queuing up this entry, I noticed that there’s no category for "agency" related posts.  That’s OK because Mary Beth Kemp, my colleague and co-author of The Connected Agency report, has taken the lead on a new Forrester blog called Agency Futures.  So I’m cross-posting this, there.

A lot needs to happen before agencies get Connected.  The clear first step for most shops is building digital acumen.  So I’ve published a new piece called "Agencies Must Build Digital Skills To Survive" – pretty much to the point, eh?

Here’s a [long] excerpt:

Traditional advertising agencies — marketing services providers that
have built global brands through mass media — need to prove their
digital mettle now more than ever. Although late 90s startups like
Scient, Viant, and ZEFER flamed out, firms like Critical Mass, Organic,
and Avenue A|Razorfish have risen high above the dot-bomb wreckage and
are well-positioned for success today.

Clients are shifting business to digital shops, and consumers have
turned away from media channels that built the agency industry and
toward emerging Internet media. Ad agencies must build new interactive
competencies quickly in order to succeed. How? They must build digital
skills with a three-tiered approach of establishing digital commitment
at the executive level, retraining existing staffers, and building a
pipeline of future talent.

So what’s the secret to success?  Hire a chief digital officer?  Tell all your staffers to get on Facebook?  Go 2.0 with your web site?

Maybe all that and more…

P.S. Our Forrester Marketing Blog Feedback Survey needs your feedback just like that first cup of coffee Monday morning.

US Mobile Marketing: Easier Done Than Said

Confused about mobile marketing?  Don’t be.  If you’re an
interactive marketer, you probably already know more about the channel
than you think.

Forrester clients can learn more in a piece of research we published yesterday.  Here’s the executive summary:

Eighty-three percent of marketers believe that mobile marketing will
grow in effectiveness over the next three years. But although US
marketers see the channel’s growth potential, a technical acronym soup
and low levels of current adoption among many mobile marketing formats
await early entrants. So to test the new medium while managing these
early risks, US marketers should apply lessons learned from other
digital channels to launch effective mobile campaigns. Also key to
success: targeting the small but influential base of consumers who have
already experienced mobile ads.

So let’s move from talking to doing already!

P.S. If you have a moment, I’d welcome your feedback via the Forrester Blog Feedback Survey.

Talking about mobile marketing

As you may know, my research coverage at Forrester has shifted into mobile marketing.  Last night, I moderated a panel discussion last night for MITX  and we talked about the industry for a couple hours with The Weather Channel, ESPN, Carat, g8wave, and Ringleader Digital.  The three biggest points that came up in discussion:

  1. Measurement.  It just isn’t there today.  There wasn’t a lot of discussion of platforms, but it seems like marketers must broker deals with all kinds of players that operate many different systems.
  2. Standards.  Like the rise of online ads – lack of formats and standards.  IAB?  MMA?  Marketers, agencies, publishers, platforms, manufacturers, and carriers need to put their heads together to make mobile ad formats work.
  3. Education.  Do you want to learn something new today?  Figure out the difference between on- and off-deck, what is WAP, or why does 3G matter.  Learning about this environment sounds strangely like learning about how the web works a decade ago.

Good crowd and good panel.  Lots of iPhone fans.  Lots of Blackberry users.  And lots of great services, products, and ideas out there – but I think some of the technical complexity and immaturity of the current business opportunity keep mainstream media attention away from the space.

I’ll be thinking more about this in the future – next month I’ll publish a document outlining how interactive marketers can take what they already know and apply to mobile.

Being: Peter Kim