TedRubin

The Shorty Interview with Ted Rubin

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How much time do you spend online?

Many hours per day… depending upon whether I am in meetings, speaking or at an event or brand meeting.

How do you imagine Twitter changing?

I don’t imagine, but my use will evolve as necessary w/the platform the same as it has with the changes to Facebook. It’s about the people.

Who do you admire most for his or her use of Twitter?

@ValaAfshar

What’s the funniest celebrity tweet you saw in this past year?

I don’t pay too much attention.

How do you pronounce GIF?

JIF

Why’d you start tweeting?

Because back in 2008 @OzSultan told me I had to be on Twitter and @rhollander, believe it or not walked me through the basics.

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Small Businesses and Large Alike Need to…

 

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Small businesses and large alike need to shut up and listen instead of using social media as an advertising and broadcasting tool.

They are too worried about who has more Twitter followers and about who has more fans on Facebook. They’re worried about who is getting the message out more consistently on those platforms rather than taking the amazing amount of market intelligence available to them by looking at people that are following them and reading what they are writing on their own pages.

Businesses need to spend less time tweeting and posting to Facebook, and more time reading, listening and understanding what it is their customers really want. They can’t expect to use social media only when it is convenient for them and expect customers to remain engaged.

Way too few companies are empowering their employees on social media, seeing it as a threat instead of a benefit. Small business needs to recognize that their best advocates are their employees. Empower your employees and they will power your brand.

Forget B2B or B2C and Focus on BwB or BwC Instead ~guest post via @BLichtenwalner

 

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The terms “Business to Business” (B2B) and “Business to Consumer” (B2C) are outdated. These terms imply your business is doing something to a customer. That may be how business was conducted decades ago, but it’s always been better – and is now necessary – to conduct business with your customer. Business to a customer is a transaction. Business with a customer is a relationship.Whether your customer is a business or a consumer, they prefer a relationship over a transaction.

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What’s the ROI of a Smile?

I sent something out on Instagram recently—a photo collage of the smiling faces of friends—with the following comment: “Smile at your customers, Smile at your employees, Smile at your vendors, Smile at your family and friends, Smile at strangers. SMILE… the ROI will amaze you!” It got over 30 likes almost immediately. I sent the same message (and photo) out on Facebook, with even more engagement.

ROI of a Smile

People commented how good it made them feel, and some said they were taking the message to heart and spreading the word. People want to be happy! And when you send them a photo with a smiling face, it generates warm feelings and a wish to keep feeling happy.

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The Inimitable @markwschaefer interviews Ted Rubin [video]

Originally posted at BusinessGrow.com

Ted Rubin has been on the forefront of social media marketing innovation but when I asked him what was his exciting him about the future, he had a very surprising answer. I liked the conversation so much that I knew I needed to record it for all my friends on {grow}! It’s a short interview but Ted talks fast so he covers a lot of ground, including:

– Disconnect between agency pitches and business needs
– The glacial rate of social media change at the enterprise level
– The number one reason social media is not being spread to employees
– The need for a small-town mentality on the web

I’m sure you’ll enjoy this discussion. Let me know what you think in the comment section below!

 

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Important Advice for Reaching Out via LinkedIn and Facebook

A little advice for people here using LinkedIn and Facebook, more of a very strong suggestion… stop sending out invites without a personalized note, and best if that note offers a reason you want to connect.

Just saying people… it’s all about building relationships, not just being connected, and the first step of that relationship is the introduction… especially if we have never met!

 

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Learning to speak “Human” #H2H

 

 

 

In his new e-book There is No B2B or B2C: It’s Human to Human: #H2H my good friend Bryan Kramer gives some wise advice to brands: “I don’t care what language you speak, who your brand is or what message you’re trying to send, we all need to speak more human.” I love that statement because it so perfectly reminds us that in the midst of all of our increasingly complex digital sophistication, making the human connection is more important than anything else. Because of the power of social to inform and educate consumers, companies need to be a part of the social scape, and that’s means functioning in the world on a human to human scale. They can no longer afford to hide behind a logo. They have to converse with their market and above all, listen.

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Voting for Marketing Book of The Year is Open & Return on Relationship is on the List, #RonR…

Below originally posted at Marketing Book of The Year 2014

*Vote Here… http://www.marketingbookoftheyear.org/vote-and-win*

 

 

Welcome to Marketing Book of The Year 2014.2013 was a very successful year for marketing books. We saw lots of different titles being published and covering most marketing aspects.

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Should Social Media Outsourcing be Illegal? ~guest post via @BLichtenwalner

social-media-outlaw

Many companies completely outsource social media management. These companies may have good reasons for this decision. Yet, when outsourced, social media communications misrepresent reality. In fact, is it possible that completely outsourcing your social media accounts should be outlawed? Below are a couple issues to consider:

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It’s Not OK…

 

 

 

It is not ok to just use social channels to just broadcast.

It is not ok to simply advertise and call it Social Media.

It is not ok to block employees from accessing social media sites while at work.

It is not ok to discourage employees from building their own personal brands.

It is not ok to allow PR agencies to be your social voice without regular input from company employees.

It is not ok to let interns set your social media strategy.

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