Brent's Social CRM Blog

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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Introverted Socialism

For someone as introverted as I am by nature, it's cool to be able to use social tools to really connect with people in ways I know I wouldn't have done using the more conventional methods. I guess that was on my mind when I wrote my regular online columns for Inc.com and BlackEnteprise.com:

• Inc.com - Social Media For Business Sake

• BlackEnterprise.com - Four Social Acts Business People Need to Commit

I've "met" some incredible people over the past few years because of these tools, and my life (personal as well as professional) has been truly enriched for it. Sometimes it's good to take a step back and see just how much of an impact this stuff really does have on us. But then again, this all begins and ends with people - the technology just gives us the ability to really understand each other if we choose to do so.

OK, I just got through watching 2001: A Space Odyssey, which always puts me in a weird mood...

Technorati : blackenterprise.com, inc.com, small business, social media
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This One is for The Moneymakers

I've been on the road quite a bit the last month speaking and meeting. I'm heading back to Orlando tomorrow to check out Microsoft Convergence. It will be my first time attending so I'm looking forward to seeing what goes on there.

I say going back to Orlando because I was just down there 10 days ago to speak at a conference on behalf of the Six Apart. It was a nice event, but the most memorable thing for me was meeting my first billionaire. As I jumped into the elevator to go to my room, Arthur Blank, co-founder of Home Depot and owner of the Atlanta Falcons, also jumped in right as the door closed. And sadly, I have to admit, I was $tar $truck. I even lied and introduced myself as a big fan of the Falcons, a lie so vicious my tongue should have snapped right out of my mouth. It's probably a good thing I wasn't sporting a Michael Vick jersey at the time. Anyway Mr. Blank was really cool. He shook my hand, asked me what brought me down there and wished me good luck with my speaking engagement.

Speaking of billionaires, last week for my BlackEnterprise.com column I wrote about Oprah's social media lesson for solopreneurs and other small business types. It's about how Oprah, along with author Eckhart Tolle, were going to hold 10 webinars discussing Tolle's book A New Earth - Oprah's latest book club selection. The morale of this story is if the world's most recognizable media mogul is turning to social media, shouldn't us unknown little guys? I think we have more to gain than the queen of all media does.

I've gotta give it up to the money makers... good lessons and good manners. Oh well, I'm off to the big O (Orlando, not Oprah). Maybe, just maybe I'll run into Bill(ionaire) Gates.

Technorati : arthur blank, atlanta falcons, black enterprise, oprah
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Dale Carnegie 2.0 - Winning Friends and Influencing People on the Web

No, this is not a picture of Harry S. Truman, but it definitely had me fooled. Nope, this is Dale Carnegie. I've been on this Dale Carnegie kick for the last month or so. And quite honestly it kind of bugs me, because I really didn't enjoy the course when I was "encouraged" to take it after starting my first job out of grad school. For those of you not familiar with DC, he was maybe the first hugely successful self-help/motivational speaker, who wrote the mega-hit How To Win Friends and Influence People back in 1937. So you can blame him for the rise of the "If-You-Can-See-It-You-Can-Be-It" industry, aka motivational speakers. But I digress...

Even though I really wasn't "feeling" the course (partly because I was all of twenty-four years old when I took it), the book made some good points when it comes to how people want to be treated. And by treating them the with a lot of dap ('80s flashback word meaning respect) you improve your chances of making them like you - really really like you. To the point that they'll trust you enough to buy stuff from you.

Although the book was written over 70 years ago, the principles still stand. And if you apply them using today's social media tools they can really work for you. So that's why every time I've been asked lately by traditional small business types who are trying to make sense of the web, I tell them just think what Dale C. would do with blogs, social networks and other things that people are using to reach more people, in a more meaningful way than ever before.

I came up with a few examples for how some of Carnegie's concepts are being used today for my weekly online column for BlackEnterprise.com.

Technorati : dale carnegie, small business, social crm, web 2.0
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Fearless Non CRM-Related Prediction for 2008: The Rise of the International Solopreneur

I used my www.BlackEnterprise.com column this week to throw a prediction out there for 2008. It's called 2008: The Year of the International Solopreneur. It's a short and sweet little ditty about why I think everything's in place for those one man (or woman) bands out there with the guts and determination to become world-renowned at whatever it is they want to do. If you get a chance to check it out let me know what you think.

Technorati : entrepreneur, small business, solopreneur, trends