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seth godin

Does social media stop you from lying to your customers?

by Tim on September 19, 2011

Über-marketer Seth Godin’s most famous books is called, famously, All Marketers are Liars Tell Stories: The Underground Classic That Explains How Marketing Really Works. Actually, I’m not sure what the title is these days. It used to be called “All Marketers are Liars” without the strikethrough. Because, as Godin said in the original introduction,

“No one would hate a book called All Marketers Are Storytellers. No one would disagree with it. No one would challenge me on it. No one would talk about it.”

In the new introduction, he says instead,

“The thing is, lying doesn’t pay off any more. That’s because when you fabricate a story that just doesn’t hold up to scrutiny, you get caught. Fast.”

As with many things marketing-related, Seth is very, very right.

For instance, TripAdvisor, the hotel and restaurant review giant, just changed its slogan in the UK from “Reviews you can trust” to “Reviews from our community” due to complaints that some have gamed the system. They’re also under investigation by the UK’s Advertising Standards Agency:

“…after an online reputation management company alleged the claims that posts were by ‘real travellers’ could not be proven.”

For many in the hotel industry, this is not news. (Full disclosure: I have a number of clients in the hotel space).

Now, I’m not claiming TripAdvisor is lying. But they’re not the first company who’s getting called out by folks in the social space for making claims and failing to fully back them up. ConAgra Foods just pissed off a bunch of food bloggers by serving them frozen meals instead of promised celebrity chef-prepared entrees. Um… oops.

When we were little kids, we didn’t lie. We didn’t dare. Why not? Because we all knew our kid brother or sister would rat us out to Mom and Dad.

Funny how things continue to work that way, huh?

Now, as mentioned above, good marketers tell good stories. And you should absolutely continue to do that. One of the great things about social, is if you do it really well, your customers will tell those stories on your behalf. Just make sure the facts support your story. Because, in the social world, you can be a great storyteller. You just can’t be a liar.

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Tim Peter & Associates helps companies from startups to the Fortune 500 use the web to reach more customers, more effectively every day. Take a look and see how we can help you.

Technorati Tags: blogging, blogs, Facebook, facebook, Google +1, Google Plus, Google+, Seth Godin, social, social marketing, social strategy, strategy, twitter, TripAdvisor, reputation management

Tagged as: reputation management, seth godin, social, social marketing, social media marketing, social network marketing, social strategy, social web, tripadvisor

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Poke the Box by Seth Godin (Book Review of the Week-ish)

by Tim on March 3, 2011

in Book Reviews

Just as we can expect spring to bring new life and new Apple products, we can also expect Seth Godin to have a new book. Seth has a series of core tenets that he’s shared in book after book after book after… well, you get the idea. What are these tenets? Well, in no particular order, they seem to be…

Be remarkable (see his book, “Purple Cow”).
Don’t get stuck in a rut (as he talked about in “The Dip”
[my review here]).
Get the early adopters on your side (which he talks about in “Unleashing the Ideavirus”)
Talk only to those people who’ve given you their permission (actually he’s the guy who popularized the idea of ““Permission Marketing”. I even the sub-title: “Turning Strangers Into Friends And Friends Into Customers”)

And Seth, bless his shiny dome, is at it again. Only this time, he’s doing more than just writing down these tenets. He’s living them. In his quite literally remarkable new book, “Poke the Box”, Godin asks you to start something. Almost anything, really. To get out of your rut. As he says,

“All of the other elements [needed to produce something new] are cheaper and easier to find than ever before. Which makes the motive force so critical.”

Godin aims for this book to provide that motive force. And as we’ve come to expect, Seth has done it in a truly remarkable fashion. Instead of going with a traditional publishing company, he’s partnered with Amazon.com to launch his own [Full disclosure: I am an Amazon affiliate]. He’s gotten the early adopters to buy-in (via, again, a remarkable pricing promotion). And he started by telling only those early adopters who let him tell them.

Brilliant.

The book itself? It’s good. It’s quick. It’s inspirational. In short, it’s what anyone who’s read a Seth Godin book before expects a Seth Godin book to be. I liked it. If you like Godin, you’ll probably like it, too. If you don’t like Godin, it’s not likely to change your mind. If you’ve never heard of Seth Godin, you should give it a try. Or, if you prefer, try the the Kindle edition.

In fact, I’m going to make it easy for you to try the book. Post a comment below and tell me what project you want to start. I’ll pick one project I think is most interesting and I’ll send you a copy of the book. Just be sure to post your comment before 11:59 PM Eastern Monday, March 7th, OK?

Are you getting enough value out of your small business website? Want to make sure your business makes the most of the local, mobile, social web? thinks helps you understand how to grow your business via the web, every day. Get more than just news. Get understanding. Add thinks to your feed reader today.

Or subscribe via email.

And while you’re at it, don’t forget to follow Tim on Twitter.

Technorati Tags:
book reviews, books, Seth Godin, solutions, strategy, success, vision, Poke the Box, Poke the Box book review, Seth Godin book review

Tagged as: book review, Book Reviews, books, poke the box, purple cow, seth godin, unleashing the idea virus

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10 tools to simplify your business blogging (Small Business E-commerce Link Digest)

by Tim on September 11, 2009

in Blogging

Many small businesses now manage blogs to communicate with customers, improve SEO and increase revenues. It’s a valuable tactic. But, if you’re relatively new to blogging, how can you do it most effectively? Are there tips, tricks or tools you can use to improve your blogging?

Definitely.

Using our proprietary thinks “Real World Tested” methodology [*], we’ve picked out 10 tools, by category, that will make you a more productive blogger. Many are free and all but a handful are either web-based or work across Macs and PC’s so you can use the platform of your choice. Without further ado, here are the top 10 tools to simplify your business blogging:

Blog editor – I’ve never been a big fan of the default WordPress editor and instead prefer to do my writing locally. Do I like MarsEdit for the Mac? No, I don’t. I love it. I wish every piece of software worked as well. It connects with multiple blogging platforms and manages multiple blogs in a simple, straightforward interface. And it has simple but powerful macros that you can edit to streamline your typing, easy image uploading, plus a “Post w/ Mars Edit” bookmarklet to move information from your browser quickly and cleanly. It’s one of the top reasons I prefer Macs.
On the PC side, I typically use w.bloggar or BlogDesk. While w.bloggar hasn’t been updated since late 2007, it’s impressive how much use I still get from it. And I’ve really been impressed with BlogDesk’s simple interface. It does everything it’s supposed to and stays out of the way for everything else.
Clipboard manager – Writing a blog post requires lots of copying and pasting. That’s why I can’t live without Jumpcut (Mac) and Ditto (PC). These tools allow me to copy multiple items (URL’s, text, HTML, what-have-you) from across my machine and only return to my editor when I’m ready to paste. Trust me, it’s a lifesaver when doing posts like our weekly link digests. Or this one. The best part? They’re both free.
Image search – We all know a picture is worth a thousand words. And that’s what makes Flickr’s advanced search priceless. Thanks to the wonders of Creative Commons – and this tip from Seth Godin – you can find great, free images to enliven your words with a worthy picture. How cool is that?
Image editor – Of course, sometimes your images will take a little massaging (make sure the image license allows you to fold, spindle and/or bend as needed). When I have to, I like Acorn (Mac) or Adobe Photoshop CS4
(Mac/PC). Photoshop is $500 more than Acorn and only worth it if you need the extra horsepower it provides (if you need it, it can be worth every penny). For most mortals, though, Acorn will work wonders.
Screen captures – Depending on what you write about, a screenshot can make for the best image to accompany a post. And while you can use the built-in tools for taking screen captures on any computer, the ability to take scrolling images, video captures and perform basic editing within tools like Snapz Pro X (Mac) and SnagIt Version 9.1 (PC) usually make them worth their $50 to $70 price tag.
News reader – Of course, all the pretty pictures in the world won’t help you if you’ve got nothing to say. I use Google Reader (Web-based), NetNewsWire (Mac/iPhone) and Viigo (BlackBerry) to keep up with hundreds of feeds online, offline and wirelessly, too. What you can’t read hundreds of feeds every day? Me neither. That’s why I use Steve Rubel’s “knowledge management ninja” tip to help me find just the right posts to support my ideas without drowning in a data deluge every day.
Twitter client – Yup. Twitter. You know how important it is for smart companies. And tools like TweetDeck (PC/Mac/iPhone), Tweetie (Mac/iPhone) and TwitterBerry (BlackBerry) help me stay connected to my fellow Twitizens every day.
Keyword research tools – Keywords, keywords, keywords. I love ‘em. Can’t live without ‘em. Think about ‘em every day. (Sad. But true). Every blog depends on ‘em, so much so that they comprise one of the “Four C’s” of business blogging. (Read the post. It’ll make sense then). I use Wordtracker and Google’s free keyword research tool all the time to find the right words to write. You should, too.
An outboard brain – Of course, finding good content and keywords is only useful if you remember what it was you found to say. I use several tools, including Evernote, Delicious and, yes, good ol’ pen and paper (in my case, a large Moleskine square print notebook),
to keep track of everything I need. Delicious lets me track bookmarks, Evernote and my Moleskine everything else.
Browser bookmarklets – And, finally, I know I mentioned the “Post w/ Mars Edit” bookmarklet above. But it bears repeating. Between it, my “Bookmark on Delicious” bookmarklet and and the “Flickr Advanced Search” link, that may account for 50% of my daily clicks. The best part? They work in Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Internet Explorer. So, fire up your favorite browser and get clicking.
iPad apps – If you’re blogging from an iPad, be sure to look at our list of essential iPad blogging tools, too.

Hope you have a great weekend everybody. Now that you’ve got these tools, get out there and get blogging!

Oh, and don’t forget our ProStores E-Commerce Makeover, either. Write a post about why your site needs help and win six free months of ProStores service. That’s right. Free. So, whaddya waiting for? Enter today.

“Real World Tested” Methodology: The list above represent the tools used here at thinks to publish this blog every day. They’re all used in real-world conditions and represent my picks for improving the researching, writing and publishing process. While I do most of my writing on a Mac, I also spend plenty of time on PC’s and mobile devices, too, and want to be able to accomplish any task from any machine. With that in mind, I’ve listed my favorite tools on each platform as well as the platform on which I use each tool. In some cases the tool is available on additional platforms; however, I’m only listing the ones on which I use the tool.

Affiliate linking disclosure: A handful of these product links (Wordtracker and the products available on Amazon) include my affiliate ID, with any revenues generated used to help offset the cost of running thinks. If you want to buy them somewhere else, I encourage the products just the same. Believe me, I’m not getting rich on my affiliate links; that’s Darren Rowse.

Are you getting enough value out of your small business website? Want to make sure your business makes the most of the local, mobile, social web? thinks helps you understand how to grow your business via the web, every day. Get more than just news. Get understanding. Add thinks to your feed reader today.

Or subscribe via email.

And while you’re at it, don’t forget to follow Tim on Twitter.

Image credit: kpwerker via Flickr using Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic.

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