by Scott Howard | May 19, 2012 | Really? The Personal ScLoHo, TEDTalks
Note: I publish updates on this silly website at 9am 7 days a week. Except today. I am releasing this a bit early, since this is TEDxFortWayne day and 9am is when the presentations begin.
I got to serve on the speaker selection team this year. We picked 20, mostly from Fort Wayne, a few from Indianapolis and at least one from out of state. Check out the line-up here and keep track of these names. Some are already famous for what they have done or are doing. Some will never be famous, but will inspire others.
Today will be a non-tech for me I believe. I’ve got a couple of pens and a new journal that I’ll be using to take notes.
If you see me say hi, I’d love to meet you face to face (again). Today I’m just the bearded guy with a white shirt.
Here’s the list:
MARKBECKER
Creating the tipping point for positive change in communities, perspectives gleaned from a seasoned civil servant yield a call to collaborate for our city and our region.
ZACHARYBENEDICT
Recognizing the socio-economic power of everyday interpersonal connections can be used to increase engagement and improve communities – this is a call for reprioritization.
AARONBROWN
Mobilizing communities to make a difference through service as seen through the eyes of a volunteer – a story of personal change, inspiring encounters and key takeaways from these experiences.
ALEX JONATHANBROWN
Building endeavors within Fort Wayne around organic, strong ideas with a large support base. Avoiding the pitfalls of the hip or exclusive versus the strength of the sustainable cool.
RANDYCLARK
Distinguishing the use of technology as a force that can be used for good is a powerful tool in promoting community and pursuing real world connections to offer support to one another.
ERIKDECKERS
Exploring the disruption of society from the introduction of both internet and social media with consideration for the possibility that these modalities have created newer and better communities.
KIRBYFERGUSON
Remixing is a folk art but the techniques are the same ones used at any level of creation: copy, transform, and combine. Explore examples, discover innovation’s secrets and be inspired to go and do likewise.
JEFFREYGLADD [MD]
Empowering patients to true jump-out-of-bed-in-the-morning health by creating high-tech, high touch medical practices focused on achieving optimal levels of health and balanced lifestyles for patients, employers and providers.
RILEYJOHNSON & GINGERGIESSLER
Re-thinking education in Fort Wayne through an innovative program that empowers students in the classroom and community with the goal of improving the culture of our city by giving the students a voice and a choice.
JOHNKAUFELD
Discovering oneself on the road less traveled as a leader, this is an opportunity to explore and consider how to translate and communicate passion and beliefs to other people.
LORIKEYS
Learning to dance happens in a progression. It can change people’s lives, and the same lessons learned on the dance floor can make even greater changes in the world.
KELLYLYNCH
Challenging the “what’s in it for me?” mentality with a shift to making imaginative and authentic investments – fusing arts and culture, trails and rivers, historical cornerstones and inspiring considerations of who we can become.
MILESNITZ
Contemplating the concept of change through exploration of secrets hidden deeply within the neuro-biology of the human brain. Learn cutting edge approaches being used to facilitate new thinking.
MACPARKER
Taking risks and having vision built Fort Wayne’s legendary past and will reshape its future. Reviewing the first three Acts of Fort Wayne’s history offers insight into why Fort Wayne needs to get its swagger back to direct Act Four.
ROBSALKOWITZ
Using the lens of the San Diego Comic-Con to explore the unprecedented disruptions in communication, marketing and technology, explore the convergence of pop culture, niche & mass marketing and changes in the top down creative approach.
CHRISSANDERSON
Making dramatic changes in health yields significant weight loss, improved statistics and remarkable changes in quality of life. Consider the transition from sub-par to premium nutritional fuel to improve health and optimize life.
HEATHERSCHOEGLER
Realizing that [1+1≠2] in the realm of human contact and connection – rather recognizing that [1+1=infinity] – opens doors to endless possibilities for anyone. RETHINK Fort Wayne!
ALEXSMITH
Discussing the importance of sowing seeds that benefit others, as well as cultivating community attachment and retaining talent – recent grassroots initiatives give proof of fertile soil within our city.
LAURENZUBER
Giving yourself permission to be fluid, to try things, to test what you want to do and where you excel makes a case for the five-year anti-plan: RETHINK entry level.
by Scott Howard | May 18, 2012 | ScLoHo's Web World
A couple weeks ago my daily update to this website was titled, What’s the Purpose of All this Social Media Crap?
It gathered some attention, including a new Twitter follower that had me puzzled for a couple moments.
Take a look:
When I received the notification in my email, my first thought was, why in the world did BathroomDotCom want to follow me on Twitter?
Then I remembered I used the word Crap in my latest update and sent a promotional tweet at noon. 19 minutes later, the autofollow program that BathroomDotCom decided that I was worth following.
That, I believe demonstrates the problem with AutoFollowing on Social Media based on keywords without a little human intervention. Otherwise, it’s just a bunch of crap…
by Scott Howard | May 16, 2012 | The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo
..until the money is gone.
Money is what makes the world go ’round.
Not literally, but figuratively.
And in many small ways, I suppose literally too, depending on the type of world you are looking at.
I’m going to stick to the world of media and marketing that I know so well.
The internet was supposed to kill off so many things we have lived with for decades.
Like Newspapers, Yellow Pages, Television, Radio, to name a few.
Sitting in a coffee shop the other day, I saw someone with a phone book and someone else reading the Sunday paper.
Over 90% of Americans still listen to the radio at least once a week, and we seem to continue to fill between 100 and 1000 cable TV channels with something 24/7.
As long as there is money to support _______ it won’t go away. Which is why AOL and MySpace are still alive, even though they shouldn’t be with Facebook and Google taking over the world. Or at least the World Wide Web.
A business stays in business as long as they have the funds to stay in business. It’s that simple.
by Scott Howard | May 15, 2012 | Really? The Personal ScLoHo
For several years McDonalds was a client of mine. Yet the McD’s closest to my home had lousy customer service. It was a corporate owned store instead of a franchise and it seemed like no one had a vested interest in the place.
I mean one time I had a staring match with the guy behind the counter, except he never looked me in the eye. I was waiting for him to greet me and he just stood there, looking bored as crap, not saying a word. I walked out. I told my McDonalds contacts and now this is one of the best run places, even when they are busy with 20 cars in the drive thru.
This morning I saw a report about customer service.
According to the 2012 American Express Global Customer Service Barometer consumers who have used social media for service tell significantly more people about their service experiences, and say they’d spend 21% more with companies who deliver great service, compared to 13% on average.
The survey reveals a sorry state of service in general, pointing that 93% of Americans surveyed say that companies fail to exceed their service expectations, while 55% walked away from an intended purchase in the past year because of a poor customer service experience.
My first thought was this was a waste of money… of course we want better customer service, you don’t need a survey to point this out. But then maybe someone needs to be told that their service sucks.
You and I have the power to say something, to reach others and tell the story about the salesperson who did a fantastic job, or the waiter who constantly screws up.
Actually we have a responsibility to tell others.
Tell the head honcho if you can. Tell others about it on Facebook, Twitter, your blog or website.
And don’t just complain. Compliment too.
Write a recommendation for someone on Linkedin.
At the very least tell the person face to face that you are grateful for the job they did, even if it’s just their job.
by Scott Howard | May 14, 2012 | ScLoHo's Web World
Last week my name was mentioned as a resource (again) by someone on Facebook for Twitter advice.
A third party asked:
Anyone have any tips to increase the number of one’s twitter followers?
Humbly, I’m going to address the original question with a disclaimer. There are lots of people who are making a living, or at least supplementing their income by offering and charging for social media advice and guidance.
I’m not one of them. I do all of this online stuff as a communication tool. I started several years ago writing a couple of blogs which grew into 5 or 6, then recently scaled back one update per day, on one website, instead of the 40+ weekly updates I was doing previously. I did work for about a year with digital marketing agency Cirrus ABS and was recruited due to my media, marketing, sales, and social media credentials. However I decided to return to the radio advertising business this year to earn a living.
The person who asked the question on Twitter about adding more followers is also in the mass media business. I did some research on him and the company he works for.
They are both on Facebook and with respectable numbers of Likes and Friends. The company had 2716 and he personally had 2301 when I checked a couple days ago.
(In comparison, one of my radio stations has over 8,000 likes, the other has around 1,400.) My own Facebook page has 850 Friends, my wife has under 100 and so on…
But back to Twitter. This person’s company has 142 followers and follows 208. He has 61 followers and follows 49. I understand why he wants to increase his numbers, but I’m not sure he understands why.
Last week I wrote about the primary reason I use Twitter. I said it is my preferred conversational social media platform. Click here to read why I used those words.
But conversation is not the only reason I Tweet. I also listed 6 additional reasons the next day. You can read them here.
The main reason I am on Twitter is to engage back and forth with others on Twitter. I joined Twitter around 4 years ago. I have Tweeted over 36,000 times. That averages out to around 25 times a day.
You don’t need to Tweet that much. But as they say “results may vary”.
Here’s why I believe you probably want more Twitter Followers:
You want to connect with more people and have them connect with you.
So, this sounds silly, but it’s also obvious. Follow more people.
When I had less than 500 followers I always followed more people than I had followers. Eventually the numbers flipped. I have more followers than I follow.
Every time I get a new follower, I check their Twitter profile to see if they are real or just spammy, and usually follow back.
Two other things to do to increase the number of followers that I’ve mentioned:
Tweet more and converse more. 10 times a day isn’t all that difficult if you are building relationships.
And finally you need to keep at it. This whole twitter thing, in my book, is about building relationships with other people. If you disappear for a few days or weeks, you are weakening those relationships.
When I started most of my online activity, I was just as green and new to this as anyone else. I sought out advice, and I applied relationship principles.
Anyone else have some advice?
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