Digital Strategist's Notebook

smstrategist notebook crop effected Digital Strategists Notebook You need a digital strategist. And most small businesses can't afford one. SO… here is my 2013 outreach plan. 1. This page will capture all the posts that I think are REALLY relevant to running a small business's online marketing program. 2. As I go about my 2013 goal, of 'giving away' one full site development a month, I will share the results of my learnings here. 3. I post a lot. So on this page I will try select only the critical path posts – what you need to know to get it done. 4. Finally, I will collect off the "inspirational posts" intended to get you motivated to jump into social media, even BEFORE you read any of the other posts.

Social Media University < 2 minute educational videos

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IMMUTABLE TRUTHS ABOUT TRUST AND ONLINE MARKETING

Online Customer Flow Chart: Do You Know What Your Business WIN PATHS Are?
We used to talk about "purchase path" analysis back at the bigger companies. This was a fancy way of saying, figure out how easy it is to BUY the product or service you are selling. Today I think we need to look at WIN PATHS. There is more to online marketing than ecommerce. While often the R in ROI gets pegged to sales, there are two other very important WINS in your online box of tricks.

Digital Marketing with Social Media: The Social Media Fairies
IF we begin to think of Social Media Fairies we might be closer to the truth about social media marketing. I'm not suggesting that the metrics and roi calculations are not possible with social media, but without solid programs the social in your marking mix might be good at generating activity, but not so good at generating return. Or in CEO terms, revenue.

Learning to Manage the Information Overload of Social Media
Every morning when I wake up the media and inputs are screaming for my attention. It is up to me what I want to spend time contemplating, writing about, working on. Every single day we have to filter out thousands of messages, grabbing for our mental bandwidth. How do you FILTER? How do you determine what to pay attention to, what to mute (unsubscribe from) and what to simply ignore?

The Simple Strategic Plan for Social Media Marketing
Measure every social media program towards goals. Look for actionable analytics, things you can see and change. And get your numbers down solid. Without the NUMBERS to support your social media marketing program, you will not have one for very long.

Calculating the Value of Social Media for Small and Medium Businesses (SMB)
Yes, we're all tired of hearing about how to make the case for ROI and SOCIAL MEDIA. But guess what, I still have to make that case every day. I'm doing it here. And you will have to do it too. So get out there, try some things, track everything, and share when you find something that works.

Breaking Down the "Value" of a Viral Hit on Social Media
So the ultimate value of this post (and really this entire blog) is more in terms of influence and visibility. Perhaps one of the high-powered folks that tweeted my post will look me up in the future when they need some answers.

Are You a Connector? Giving Referrals & Recommendations Is Part of Your Work
We talk about networking, and social media, and referrals and recommendations. But when asked to provide a resource, do you know how to make the most out of this simple but powerful document?

Redirecting Your Steps Towards What Is Important. Are You Doing What Matters in Work and Life?
Ask the harder questions. First of yourself. Listen for what comes back. Then take the first step. And if that goes okay, the next step. // If the first or second step fails and you fail, you have the opportunity to learn and reinforce resilience. And the more you get used to falling off the line, the easier it becomes to confront that first step again and again in the things that matter.

Sorry, Nobody Reads Your Blog: Get Over It and Get On With It!
Nobody reads your blog, if you are actually "blogging," you might be doing it for some other reason than business. Of the people that do arrive here, a good portion of them stay around two minutes and visit several pages. The referrals I am hoping for, via my "Work with me" page and free offers, are virtually non-existent.

Early Bird Attack Plan: Try GTD at the Same Time Every Day
Then I started getting up at 6am. On weekdays this usually gave me about an hour of creative time, before I had to start rustling the family and making breakfast. The cool part, was I was always WIDE AWAKE as I was bringing them back into consciousness. I had my wits and plans about me. And for the most part, I had part of my creative drive taken care of for the day.

Time to Come Clean on LinkedIn: Gut Check Your "Trust Network"
I'd love to have a DEEP TRUST NETWORK, or as a friend likes to call it, A 100% Proof Network. Until then, we've got LinkedIn. And you might want to make sure you're still comfortable endorsing, even passively, all the people in your LinkedIn Network.

Plussing or Dividing: How Are You Showing Up in the World?
You are generally either a PLUS or not. And it's more about sentiment and overall approach to life than it is about optimism or negative attitude. It's a life path. And one I think you should pay attention to and perhaps cultivate.

Truth, Transparency, and Trust: Establishing Our Connection
Social media is about transparency. If The Cluetrain Manifesto taught us anything it is that the public will talk about the truth regardless of what the company or person wants the public to talk about. I am engaging in that true talk. And as I say elsewhere, *MY COMMENTS ARE ALWAYS OPEN.*

Improving the Signal-to-Noise Ratio in Life and Social Media
I guess in some ways my signal has also been cleaned by this person's clarification today. I will no longer offer the walks or connections that we used to share. It simply is too painful for them to have me in their lives.

Crazy Little Thing Called Love: If You Can't Say Something Nice… Well, Shout It
Now I am not saying I'm right, or that my techniques and linguistic dexterity is always ON or appropriate. What I am saying, is that if you say something back it up with Passion AND Facts. If you attack, be prepared to meet the social media ninja.

The Fallacy of Just-In-Time Learning: We All Know Everything (Just Google It)
I heard it again today, "We all know everything, right?" The person asking me the question was making a point about trying to encourage businesses to put money into social media marketing. This goes hand in hand with Lewis CK's "Everything is amazing and nobody is happy." So what is going on here?

Mental Jujitsu: Nothing Ever Works Out, Get Over It and Get to Work

Let's Talk About Your Evil Plan(tm) – Yeah, But What Else Are You Doing?

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JUMP IN – AN OVERVIEW OF SOCIAL MEDIA BY OBJECTIVE

The Disciplines of Social Media Free e-Book The beginnings of a strategic plan to coordinate your social media efforts and focus on results?

Social Business MBA – The Reading List

8 Steps Getting Social Media To 5 Goals & 2 Wins the [INFOGRAPHIC]

Results of my 2012 Evolutionary Online Marketing Plan: Um, Excuse Me, Are You Listening?

Quick Course in Online Marketing: Big Picture (Social Media, Search Engine Marketing, eMail Marketing, Content Marketing) A look at the large forces of online marketing should help provide a framework for how social media fits into and accelerates the other kinds of online marketing.

Dreaming Won't Cut It – What's Your Plan, Where's Your Map? Without a plan and a map you can be overtaken by the coyotes either as pray or newly inducted follower. So what are the tools and maps that will get you along *your* chosen path? If you don't have a map for the year ahead, chances are that's where you will end up with the coyotes as food or servant. [read more]

How Social Media Can Change Your Business I am a connector and a communicator. There is no catch. I am writing this blog for you and your business success using social media. Everything else is a fringe benefit. [read more]

**[pardon our dust as I begin cataloging the posts for the following directories.]**