Brent's CRM Blog

Webinar: Obama, Social Media and Your Business

It's been way too long in between posts. Lots going on that I will talk about later. But right now I'd like to invite anyone interested to a webinar I'm doing with my friend and fellow University of Delaware graduate David Bullock. David is one of the most respected experts in online business development. Do yourself a favor and check out his blog...regularly.

I've written a few articles on the role social media has played in Barack Obama's run for the White House. And I'm not alone as there are countless articles and blog posts on this topic. That's because many of us are still fascinated that he was able to (presumably) win the Democratic nomination against formidable opponents, and formidable odds.

David and I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the Obama campaign's social media moves, and what lessons small business can learn from them. So we'll go through a few key points, and what you can pick up and use for themselves.  I'll be covering this story from the Social Media Side and David will be covering this story from the Online Business Development perspective.

Here's the info:

Brent Leary (Inc Magazine and Black Enterprise Writer / Radio Host)
David Bullock (Business Owner / Online Business Development Specialist)

Topic: Barack Obama's Social Media Lesson to Small Business
Host: Brent Leary
Date and Time: July 9, 2008
12:00 pm , Eastern Daylight Time (GMT -04:00, New York)

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To register for the online event
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1. Go to https://demo3.webex.com/demo3/onstage/g.php?d=695278719&t=a
2. Click "Register".
3. On the registration form, enter your information and then click "Submit".

Once the host approves your registration, you will receive a confirmation email message with instructions on how to join the event.

Technorati : barack obama, facebook, social crm, social media, twitter
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The Revolution Will Be Twitterized: A Social CRM Success Story

My latest article for BlackEnterprise.com focused on the role Twitter may have played in helping him win (presumably that is...) the Democratic party nomination to be the next POTUS. More importantly I wanted to point out to small business folks - those still on the fence about this web 2.0 stuff - why they should REALLY pay attention to what's going on here. After all, who would have thought that a black guy....with a funny name....and that particular middle name...who was unknown up until four years ago...with pastor issues... would be able to raise a quarter of a BILLION dollars...the lion share coming from ordinary folks giving small amounts... enabling him to defeat the two biggest names in his party (yes two) to win the nomination.? If you can honestly say you believed this could happen, you're under the age of 30 or your last name is Obama. I mean, how audacious is that???

But the savvy use of web 2.0 tools and strategies enabled Obama to win enough new friends and influence enough people to pull this off. Quite honestly, I didn't think I'd live to see this happen. And I know I'm not alone in this thinking. Which is precisely why this is a great lesson for those small business folks who also didn't believe this could happen AND still don't think social media can help their businesses. If it could help the black guy with the funny name get this far, I think you can find a way to use it to your advantage as well.

So if you get a chance check the article out. But one thing I'll point out here is a fundamental difference in the approaches to Twitter between the Obama and Clinton camps. Below is a small grid that shows the basic numbers:

Now many people focus on the big difference in the number of people following Obama over those following Clinton. But to me the more telling number is the big zero - for the number of people the Clinton campaign decided to follow on Twitter. To me this shows how Obama's campaign understood that the web is for collaborating with people. And the way to collaborate is to follow those who are following you, and even following folks who may not be following you. By doing this, you're showing those interested in what you have to say a display of courtesy. That, even if I might not be able to read and respond to every message you send, I will at least subscribe to you. The Clinton approach is more Web 1.0 - you listen to my message, but I'm not interested in yours. No conversation, no collaboration, not even a hint of it.

I'm sure there are a number of reasons why the Democratic primary went the way it did, but the strategic use of social media had a significant impact. Between the amount of money raised online, the overwhelming turnout at the polls and the high energy and emotion invested by millions of people, tools like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and the rest have changed politics forever. But it's also changed everything else - including how we do business. So if Obama can use the social tools in his audacious run to be POTUS, why can't you use it to reach new customers?

Below is my Twitter "rant" from a recent show:

Technorati : barack obama, black enterprise, crm, hillary clinton, twitter
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Barack and the Audacity of CRM

You gotta love Google alerts. I'm assuming most of you have them set up on your name, company name and keywords you're interested in. How else would I have known that I would be included in an article about how Barack Obama could make the history books if he becomes our next president. And no, not because he's black, but because he could become the nation's first CRM president according to CRM Buyer's Ericka Morphy. We've all heard about how well run his campaign is, and that may have something to do with how his organization is using RightNow Technology's applications to reach out and engage people. Check this article out if you get a chance.

Where do I fit in to all this? Ericka included a blurb from my blog entry on The CRM Playaz at the bottom of the Obama piece. Hmmm, maybe the first CRM president would make a good guest for the show. Then again, given the still-tarnished image CRM has with some businesses he may not want to run on that platform.

Technorati : barack obama, crm, crm playaz, rightnow technoogies
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