Have you even found an old box, and as you go through the box you remember the things that were happening when you were accumulating those items?

Finally, I did an inventory last week and unearthed at least 5 years worth of unreleased content. Notes, ebooks, videos, mindmaps, old courses etc.

This stuff has been sitting on eight hard drives for the last several years.

Let me tell you what this stuff is…

More on The Value Of Observation And Action

By David Bullock Co-Author – Barack 2.0: Social Media Lessons For Business

Summary : Are we paying attention to the wrong things in regards to social media?

Recently, I attended a “social media” luncheon. What I heard was interesting.

• How social media could be used.
• How social media should be used.
• Great stories that are inspiring to hear.

All about building trust, non-marketing and non-sales. How this media is so different. 

No hard numbers. No metrics. Just nice stories about what would, should and could happen with this thing called “social media.”  The concepts are there but meaningful frameworks and tactics are lacking. I guess folks are trying to figure it out.

But I did not hear anyone talking about how social media is being used:

• to increase revenues,
• leverage communications,
• support business objectives and
• easily reach new markets.

And more importantly, what I did not hear was how could this “new media” be used to create predictable outcomes. I was not looking for tips, tricks and the newest tools. I was looking for thinking or a methodology that just works because it is based in sound principles and known outcomes.

Sorry folks. I am an engineer. I build things. And I think social media is a tool that should be used to generate business outcomes that matter.

On the other hand, if you are using social media to just be sociable then this post is not for you. But if you are a business owner looking to use social media as a means to connect, engage and communicate with your audience, here are some of the questions that are running in my mind as I move both strategically and tactically in the marketplace.

For Business Owners And Managers Only

Not in any order, but this is a loose framework…

More on Thinking & Acting Effectively with Social Media for Your Business

Nine ways to re-use your blog posts. Here’s some ways to re-look at your blog posts.

If good content is good content, why not maximize the time and effort you put into your blogging original content creation effort?

Is it a blog post or is it…

1. Lead generator
2. Trust and Credibility Builder
3. Traffic Generator
4. Backlink Generator
5. Example Of Your Work
6. Special Report
7. Page In A Book
8. Script For A Video
9. Script For An Audio
10. ??????

How are you using the content that you are producing to grant you additional access and reach into your marketplace?

Til Next Time,

David Bullock

Image by DavidErickson via Flickr

by David Bullock

Summary: Insightful Interview: Using Social Media As An Effective Promotional Channel

The Barack Obama Presidential Campaign has indeed demanded the attention of the entire nation. The masterful use of social media has been incredible.

But of course, the key is to look beyond what the world is evaluating (politics) to ferret out what this campaign can teach us as we grow and expand the reach of our businesses.

The purpose of the social media segment of our business promotion is to connect with those who may be interested in our product or service and then move them to take action to engage with us on some level. This interview will get you on the inside of the thinking behind the deployment…

More on Barack Obama Social Media Technology Team Interview

Image via Wikipedia

By David Bullock

Learning how to run your business is one of the hardest lessons to learn. Many times we are working someone else’s business and not our own business. We may have false expectations for outcomes and exercise bad judgment in anticipating how long the process is going to take. If this sounds familiar, you are not alone…believe me.

These are common and very big mistakes that keep people running in circles for years.

Let’s take a step backward, though, and look at things through a wider lens.  Sometimes the simplest things show us the greatest lessons…

This past weekend my little girl learned to ride her bicycle. It was one of the happiest moments in her life and one of the proudest in mine.

She had to physically learn how to do this. She couldn’t read a book, couldn’t listen to an MP3.  I couldn’t tell her how to do it. She had to actually do it.  There were no “great new breakthrough” ideas and no new tool to help.

Simply put, she had to do the work – find out how her body would work with the bike, learn how to not fall down, and so on. 

More on Learning to Run Your Business

Image via Wikipedia

by David Bullock

StomperNet: Stomping The Search Engines 2 Now Available

The line between SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and PPC (Pay Per Click) is getting fuzzy these days. Many of you have heard me say that to do good SEO you have to know how to do PPC.

PPC first then SEO. Why not just go for the SEO first?

More on Learning The Proper Profitable SEO Sequence

By David Bullock

Social CRM Explained

Chris Brogan, known as the god father of social media, has done a podcast with Brent Leary. During this interview, they talk about the best practices for social media and how the media is changing in internet time. The podcast is funny and extremely informative for any business owner who is looking to move online.

I learned several things:

More on Social CRM Explained: Using Social Media For Business Development

First I want to thank Liz Strauss and Terry Starbucker for putting on a wonderful and enlightening event SOBCon08–Business School For Bloggers. Liz, I now know why I came to the event. Thanks for inviting me.

****************

How do you merge successful business practices with successful blogging practices? Can it be done?

I think so…

More on Business And Blogging: Trust, Community Building & Profits