MindComet

Death of the dog and pony show?

Besides heading up MindComet’s media department, I also oversee the entire technology group. Technology is where my roots are. In that particular role, I’ve made more than a few software/service purchasing decisions…which means sitting through multiple demos given by sales people all claiming to have the best product. Invariably, everyone always says their product is the best. But, how can this be?

It can’t.

As a purchaser, I know that they’re not all equal, despite the claims. Once you’ve heard three people say their product is the best, rest assured that two of the presentations you’ve heard are dog and pony shows (look, I understand. It’s sales. Going in saying, “sure my competitor’s product kicks our ass, but…“, isn’t a winning formula for hitting quotas). It’s my job to spend hours wading through sales speak to find out exactly who’s the “nuts” and who’s not. It can be tough.

Cue social media.

The internet and social media are now the great equalizer. Establishing a relationship is no longer a guessing game. Questions like is their product reliable, how’s their customer service, and are their other customers happy can be answered before signing a contract. Just put your ear to the ground and listen in customer communities. Ask past and current customers questions about the product on social platforms. They’re generally very honest…sometimes brutally honest.

According to a blog post on eMarketer, only 17% of people trust advertisers. The majority of consumers trust word-of-mouth recommendations by friends and family. While many of the people you engage in social media are relative strangers, it’s valuable feedback that can contribute to your decision. Personally, I strive for a decent sampling of feedback and look for patterns. What was the overall sentiment about the product? How did people generally feel about the level of customer service?

Do you research products independently on social media platforms before making a purchase?

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Posted by Jeremy Hilton on Jun. 08, 2009

March Florida community events

Ignite Orlando
March 4, 2009 at 6 pm

Slingapours at Wall Street Plaza
Downtown Orlando, FL

http://www.igniteorlando.com

It is a free event held at night during a weekday. A place where we can all network, talk, drink and watch presentations.

Tweet-Up Happy Hour
March 6, 2009 at 5:30 pm

Fiddler’s Green
WInter Park, FL

Tweet-Up at Fiddler’s Green in Winter Park

doterati event - It’s Hard Being Human: Social Media and You
March 26, 2009 from 6pm to 8pm

TBA Downtown Orlando, FL

http://doterati.com/events/its-hard-being-human-social

Are you being social? Social media has taken the world by storm – and your business needs to get in on the act. Steve Spalding and Nathan Thompson of Crossing Gaps Consulting will show you how to tap into this valuable resource. If your business needs to be more “social,” check out this event where you will come away with a “Social Media Playbook” full of tips and tricks.

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Posted by Jeremy Hilton on Mar. 03, 2009

Things to consider when building your online community

Communities require nurturing

Ok, so you’ve launched your community. You did your due diligence and researched your target users, established your objectives, spent a week developing your strategy and doing risk assessment exercises, and hired a developer to build and launch your community. There’s only one thing left - getting people there.

A community without people is worthless. So how do you get them there?

Unfortunately, there is no magic bullet or secret sauce to attracting hordes of people. So I’m going to share a couple of method for attracting members. BUT, before I do, you have to realize the following - Getting people to your site and building up your community will most likely be a loooong grind. Once you start down the road of community, you have to have patience and you MUST stick with it. Just ask Gary Vaynerchuk. Once you have people to your site, you also have to keep them coming back. Losing community members as fast as you gain them nets you nothing. Preventing this is simple - Provide engaging content, but more importantly respect their voice and care enough to respond to it. This will earn their trust, respect and loyalty.

So what are a couple of ways to initially attract visitors?

* Do a media buy or SEM campaign. It cost’s money, but can get you visitors. The quality of these visitors, however, is debatable. Expect lower conversion rates.

* Join other communities and make new friends. This should be done in a non-spammy and non-intrusive way. You want to make genuine connections with people and they’ll take an interest in you and ultimately in your community. The quality of these visitors and the expected conversion rates will be high.

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Posted by Jeremy Hilton on Feb. 27, 2009

I’m now the community manager for doterati!

doterati, Central Florida’s interactive marketing, media and technology association, recently held their 2009 board elections.

I’m happy to say that I was elected community director! This is a very exciting position for me as it is inline with some career goals that I have at MindComet.

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Posted by Jeremy Hilton on Jan. 16, 2009

Growing your online community

Online communities can be an inexpensive yet powerful tool for businesses.

However, you can’t just build a community and set it on auto-pilot. Communities need nurturing.

If you plan on building your own community, here are the nurturing roles that you should be planning for.

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Posted by Jeremy Hilton on Dec. 22, 2008