Managing the Gray – Positive Advice That Everyone Can Use to Succeed

Blogworld Expo was a lot of fun, but it seemed that every other question in any conversation was, “So what do you think about the FTC announcing they will be fining bloggers?”

If you haven’t read about this there is plenty of coverage and here is the actual announcement.

For me, it really is simple and not that big of a deal because I personally have always made sure to disclose any relationships. What the ruling means to me is that the people who are NOT doing this will hopefully start doing it or will be fined. I’m not sure the government needs to get involved in this as they’ve got bigger problems to fix, but that is a whole other discussion.

On the show I talk about how I’ve been using http://cmp.ly to help me in disclosing relationships. It feels almost like creative commons for disclosure and so far it is the best thing I’ve seen out there. If you have seen others let me know.

As always if you enjoyed what you heard, please subscribe in iTunes or leave a review for the show.

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Fresh back from Inbound Marketing Summit Boston 2009 and I’m filled with a lot of energy. The people, the conversations and the learning all filled me up and I’m ready to go.

While at the conference I took part in a panel (that should be online soon I hope) and gave a presentation called “There is a Hole in the Bucket” that seemed to really resonate with people and I wanted to talk about it on the show since many of you could not be there and I’m not sure when the video of the speech will actually hit the web.

Here are the slides I used to go along with my presentation. Not sure how well they stand on their own, but they work much better when I’m actually talking to them *laugh*

I also talked a bit about what Campfire has been up to and the announcement this morning that we won six Pro Awards which always feels really good. Looking forward to talking to a lot of people about who we are and what we do at Blogworld Expo next week.

As always if you enjoyed what you heard, please subscribe in iTunes or leave a review for the show.

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Every person that creates content of any type online is an “influencer” in my mind and it is to you that I’m speaking today.

More and more brands are looking to engaged with influencers both long term and for individual programs and I think that too many people are selling themselves short when they take part in these programs and I want each of you to start thinking more about what I am calling a Personal Price Tag.

Also, here are the links to the upcoming events that I’m going to be attending. I hope to see some of you there!

• ANA Conference
• Inbound Marketing Summit
• Blog World Expo
• L.A. 140 Conference
• The Audience Conference

If you liked what you heard, please subscribe in iTunes or leave a review for the show.

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As you can imagine, life has been a bit busy around here since we made the big announcement about Campfire acquiring The Advance Guard. It is a big change and an awesome one and I finally get to share some thoughts with you about it.

I also wanted to talk about hard work and the advice I gave a recent college graduate who was looking to land a job with a public relations firm. It was a simple answer, but the right one.

I also talk about a great post from Derek Sivers on only saying “Hell Yeah!” that is already changing how I approach things and why you might want to think about adopting this as well.

If you liked what you heard, please subscribe in iTunes or leave a review for the show.

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This past weekend I attended Podcamp Boston 4 and had an absolute wonderful time.

But, I left with one thing in my head that I had to share with the world and that is the fact that while some people might get in your way during your career, life or chasing dreams the only person that really holds you back is YOU.

I wrote about this topic on Digital Dads and now had to cover it on Managing the Gray. Once you listen I would love to know your thoughts on it.

If you liked what you heard, please subscribe in iTunes or leave a review for the show.

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Several months ago, I had a friend tell me that he had a book that I had to read and a person I had to talk to. That was the first time I heard the phrase “family first entrepreneur” and it has stuck with me ever since. While I never had a phrase to describe it, that is how I’ve always approached work.

On today’s show I have the pleasure of chatting with Marc Warnke, author of ONO: Options Not Obligations.

It is a great book and one that while may not be the usual fare for the Managing the Gray audience, it is something I firmly believe in and wanted to give more exposure to.

Marc was very kind and offered a 30% discount when you order the book using promo code CC.

Links to find out more about the book and Marc:

• ONO Book Page
• Marc’s Website
• Marc’s Twitter

If you liked what you heard, please subscribe in iTunes or leave a review for the show.

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I was very psyched when the opportunity to interview Chris Anderson here on Managing the Gray came up. Special thanks to my friend Kevin Smokler for making the introduction.

Photo by Joi Ito

Chris and I got on the phone to chat as we were both getting ready for Father’s Day weekend and I had a fun chatting with him about all the different things he has going on. Sure, he has the new book Free coming out on July 7th, but I wanted to talk about everything else he does as well. We got to talk about robots, the future of magazines and the publishing industry.

Links mentioned on today’s show include:

• BookTour.com
• The Long Tail
• Wired Magazine
• GeekDad
• DIY Drones

If you liked what you heard, please subscribe in iTunes or leave a review for the show.

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I’ve been a big fan of Ze Frank since I first heard about it, but I honestly never thought he’d directly inspire an episode of  Managing the Gray. But, I watched a video of a presentation he gave and it really hit home for me.

Today is really a straight from the brain to microphone type of episode. I had just finished being on national radio as an guest on the Doug Stephan show and that as well gave me the urge to put out a podcast.

Links mentioned on today’s show include:

• Ze Frank’s Webstock 09 Presentation
• Webstock
• Ze Frank
• Doug Stephan
• Podcasters Across Borders
• TEDx Announcement

If you liked what you heard, please subscribe in iTunes or leave a review for the show. We always love hearing what you have to say.

Update: Sorry for the troubles, here is a MP3 version of this episode.

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Before someone reads that title and never listens to the episode the point of today’s Managing the Gray is to say that there are a lot of people involved in parenting outside of people who fit into the typical little box of “mommy bloggers.” I think Dads are getting the short stick and I think that there are more women out there who are parents, but they create content in other areas. I don’t see the term going away anytime soon but I wish the singular focus on it would! This might be the closest thing to a rant that you’ll ever here on the show. *grin*

Links mentioned on today’s show include:

• DigitalDads
• Dad-O-Matic 
• Savvy Auntie
• Alltop Moms

This weekend is Father’s Day and I hope that you take the time to give your Dad, husband or favorite dad an extra hug. Presents are fun, but at least for me, quality time is the best thing.

If you liked what you heard, please subscribe in iTunes or leave a review for the show. We always love hearing what you have to say.

Update: By request, here is a MP3 version of this episode.

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I apologize for the silence around here while I get my software problems solved. It feels REALLY good to be back here on Managing the Gray.

Topics on today’s show include:

• My “Social Media is a Small Town” presentation
• Digital Content Newfront 2009
• Current’s VCAM (Viewer Created Ad Model)
• Ubercaster
• Eric Rice
• Media Hacks

Thanks as always for listening to the show and we’ll be back real soon with all new content. Hope you come back soon!

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I recently gave a presentation in Memphis talking about how more brands need to start leveraging the passion of their consumers in their campaigns. I had a lot of people ask me to talk more about the slides who couldn’t be on hand to see the presentation so today I discuss them here.

Special thanks to Christopher S Penn from Marketing Over Coffee for a great comment he sent in for the show as well.

Passionate about Managing the Gray? Then I encourage you to leave a review in iTunes telling others.

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Once again, Advertising Age gives me something to talk about on the show today. I think they have stepped up their writing or something because it is certainly getting bigger reactions from me lately.

Today I focused on discussing their 5 New Rules for Marketing and what I thought about them. You can read the whole article right here.

The rules Ad Age laid out were:

1. Listening to consumers is more important than talking at them.
2. You can’t hide the corporations behind the brand anymore – or even fully separate the two.
3. PR is a primary concern for every CMO and brand manager.
4. Cause marketing isn’t about philanthropy, it’s about “enlightened self-interest.”
5. Social media is not a strategy.

I’d love to hear what other rules you’d add so please put them in the comments.

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The hot assignment that everyone seems to be getting or looking for is to develop a social media strategy. Every day I hear about someone having to figure this out for their company and they don’t know where to start. So, today on Managing the Gray I thought I’d give my advice on how to approach this and succeed at it as well.

Links that I mentioned during the show include:

• Robert Scoble discussing the need for humans on web sites
• Using Social Media to Listen to Consumers article in Ad Age
• The 2009 Digital Issue of Ad Age (not all online so find a print copy if you can)
• Steve Coulson’s Mashable post on 5 Tips for Optimizing Your Brand’s Facebook Presence

At the end of the day I think every company from the smallest of corner shops, all the way up to the biggest global companies have got to figure out where social media enters into their mix. It should not be tacked on to each program, but integrated from the start into all your programs. There is so much to gain if you do this right.

I hope this show helps you and if you need further help please contact me.

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Today I’m going to give you the secret of how to be successful with your new marketing programs.   Managing the Gray is here to give you the answers after all isn’t it? *laugh*

Besides discussing how to break through the clutter, I also talked about our Facebook White Paper that was published a few weeks ago discussing fan pages. If you get a moment, check out The Advance Guard Facebook Page and let us know what you think.

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I recorded this show live from Austin on my iPhone during SXSW. I realized I had a few minutes before my next set of plans and figured it would be the perfect time to share some live thoughts on the conference right here on Managing the Gray.

Links, People & Services mentiond on the show include:

• Shoeboxed
• Poken
• Foursquare
• Tara Hunt
• Objectified
• Julien Smith
• Clarence Smith Jr.

If you were at SXSW and we met then expect an e-mail from me soon. I’m going through them all now and saying hello again. If you lost my card you can find out all the details over on The Advance Guard site.
As always if you like this content, don’t miss the next episode by subscribing through the feed or directly using iTunes.

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There have been a lot of changes happening with Facebook lately and I’m excited by most of them. I wanted to make sure that my  Managing the Gray listeners were up to date on the latest changes.

I mentioned on the show we published a white paper this week about the changes to Facebook Pages. You can always find the latest version of the white paper at http://aboutface.theadvanceguard.com and we do plan to do revisions as they become necessary.

Please be sure to leave your comments and suggestions for improvements on that page or on the discussion topic in Facebook.

We are still playing with all the new features to figure out what works best so that we can advise all of our clients appropriately. So if you look at The Advance Guard Facebook Page today, it could very well be different tomorrow. Nothing like having a live experiment on our hands.

I also want to encourage everyone to give a listen to Media Hacks. This new podcast that I’m proud to be part of is really starting to find its stride and every time we record I’m excited by the diversity of opinions and topics we cover.  We are still just starting out, but I hope you’ll help us make it as great as it can be by listening and giving feedback.

One more time, if you will be at SXSW, my panel is Saturday in Room C from 5-6 and I hope to see some listeners there. Be sure to introduce yourself.

As always if you like this content, don’t miss the next episode by subscribing through the feed or directly using iTunes.

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March sure did come in like a lion here in New England. I was ready for spring, but instead we ended up with a dumping of snow yesterday. That is why I’m talking about candy and Austin on today’s Managing the Gray.

I wanted to share my thoughts on the newly launched Skittles web site. If you haven’t seen it yet, they’ve taken the conversations happening about the brand on various platforms including Twitter and Flickr and have brought them directly on to their site. Not the first to do this, but I’ve still got mixed feelings about it.

I also give my 16 Tips for Surviving South By Southwest on the show. I learned a lot last year and even if you are not going this year, I hope some of the advice will help you at the next conference you attend. Most of these work for pretty much any conference you might attend.

If you are going to be attending SXSW, be sure to say hello.  Where I’m planning to be can be found here, but all of that is subject to change of course. The only place I know for sure is Saturday in Room C from 5-6 when my panel is happening. Be sure to come up and say hi afterward.

As always if you like this content, don’t miss the next episode by subscribing through the feed or directly using iTunes.

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Today I woke up and needed to record. Of course my computer didn’t feel like cooperating with me so I just fired up iTalk and did it that way. First of the morning brain dump on a variety of topics for today’s Managing the Gray.

Topics and links discussed on today’s show:

• The Advance Guard and our newly updated web site
• Social Media Jungle: Boston – Use promo code ZUPIYYHS and get $50 off the registration fee
• Do You Know Clarence?
• Trust Agents now available for pre-order
• Kindle 2
• The inspirational video from Zack Arias that got me going this weekend
• Another homework assignment for you

If this is your first time and you enjoyed the show, you can subscribe through the feed or directly in iTunes.

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Last night was the big game. The Super Bowl!

Of course, being a huge football fan I sat down with lots of great food, a beer and watched the game. But, being a marketing person as well means I watch the game as much for the commercials as well. You’ll find plenty of posts today with people talking about their favorite ads. No way I’m going to dedicate a whole show to it, but I did want to share my thoughts as well as update everyone on what’s been going on.

Topics mentioned on the show today.

• Ad Rants did some great coverage
• Watch all the Super Bowl ads on Hulu
• The Coke ad I liked
• The Pepsi ad I liked
• NBC the clear winner with their unique ads for their own shows. The Heroes Football ad was my favorite.
• I was psyched to have been a guest on HubSpot.TV this week
• Boston Media Makers continues to become an important part of my life
• Hoping you’ll start listening to the new podcast I’m part of called Media Hacks (coming soon)
• Congrats to The Manic Mommies and their Saturn Sponsorship

All that and more on today’s episode of Managing the Gray.

Please consider subscribing through the feed or directly in iTunes. Find out more about the host C.C. Chapman or follow along on Twitter.

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I’m a big fan of any tool that helps me be more productive without getting in the way of living my life. Ever since I discovered Evernote a few months back I’ve been hooked. It works as my virtual moleskine and allows me to quickly get at things I want to remember from any device (web, computer, iPhone) that I need to.

So when I got an e-mail from the PR Company that handles public relations for Evernote asking if I’d like to interview their CEO Phil Libin I couldn’t say no.

Kudos to them for paying attention to the conversation happening online. They saw me twittering about Evernote and did some research and found I had this podcast Managing the Gray. Way to many companies are missing perfectly good opportunities to work with their fans online and I’m happy to see not all are missing the boat.

We talk about the forthcoming collaboration features and how they expect to more then double their user base in 2009. I’m extremely excited for the next release and it can’t come out soon enough for me personally.

If this is your first time listening, please consider subscribing through the feed or directly in iTunes. I hope you enjoy the show.

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