Managing the Gray continues to be an outlet for me to constructively share what is on my mind and the recent wave of conversation online around charging for content and value is obviously on my mind because I sat down to discuss something else and started talking about this instead.

I talked about a bunch of different posts, topics and sites. Here they are so you can check them out.

• Third Tribe Marketing
• Chris Brogan’s post that started it all. His follow up is great as well.
• The Whuffie Factor
• J.C. Hutchin’s post
• My SXSW Profile
• Dan Patterson
• Jack Rice

Make sure you don’t miss an episode by subscribing in iTunes and I’d love for you to leave a review for the show. Thanks!

February is here. The first month of 2010 is behind us, so it felt like the perfect time to check in with you on how your goals are going so far this year. Managing the Gray is here to help give you the kick when you need it in the right direction.

I referenced the Conan O’Brien farewell speech and if you haven’t seen it you can watch it here. Also, I mention my good buddy and super talented musician Matthew Ebel as well.

Also, I’d love you to learn more about Wediko since I’m passionate about getting the word out there about all the great things they do for children and families.

Welcome to all the new listeners. It is great to have you here. We hope you have subscribed in iTunes oand once you’ve listened to a few shows, we’d love for you to leave a review for the show. Thanks!

A new year and a new decade is upon us and my plan is for Managing the Gray to help you not only get through the year, but prosper in it.

I’m not big on lists, but a listener asked what trends or predications I had for the new year. Rather then spouting off possibilities I’d rather focus on reality and when you listen to the show you can hear what I had to say.

After you listen to the show be sure to check out the new Lego Click site. It isn’t every day that an idea like that gets into my head so fast. I’m really curious to see how it goes for them and I guess I’m now part of it. The other sites I mentioned in reference to smaller networks were blippy and Blackbox Republic.

Also, my new podcast Cast of Dads is up to episode 5 and you can now subscribe in iTunes.

I mentioned on the show that I’m hoping to grow the audience this year so if you have a moment please subscribe in iTunes or leave a review for the show. Thanks!

The holidays got in the way of getting this out as soon as I wanted to, but I’m excited to share with you an interview with my good friend and author Ron Ploof to discuss his new book Read This First: The Executive’s Guide to New Media-from Blogs to Social Networks.

Ron granted me the first interview about his book and any chance to catch up and chat with him is a good thing for me. I’m honored to call him a friend and am psyched for people to get out there and read this book because I think it is better then most of the ones I’ve seen and read about social media.

Listen to the episode to find out how you can win a copy to give to your boss or another executive that you think needs to understand this stuff better.

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

I recently was asked to take part in the Rule 53 podcast. Rule 53 is a cross-generational podcast that  focuses on leadership, business, technology, and professional development.  Each episode features one twentysomething student or recent graduate and his or her experienced counterpart.  The goal is to help define “Rule 53″, a curriculum for tomorrow’s leaders ad change agents.

I am sharing this directly with the Managing the Gray feed because I was so excited about the concept of the show and how the interview turned out. Plus, how could I not when all three of us on the phone are Bentley University Falcons?

Listen, enjoy and if you like what you hear be sure to check out all the other great stuff going on at DartBoston.

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

When I went out to Blogworld Expo , one of the coolest things I got to hear about is what the US Army is doing with their new site Army Strong Stories. As soon as I heard about it I knew I was impressed and wanted to get them on the phone to talk abut it so all the Managing the Gray listeners could find out more.

A special thanks to MAJ Mary Constantino for taking time out of her busy schedule to chat with me about the program.

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

But, today I’ve got something special for you. A special free 10 chapter PDF of the book for your downloading, reading and sharing pleasure. Click on the book cover to enjoy.

What I love about this is that is just one part of all the new things that JC is trying around marketing this book. It is being published by a major publishing company, but JC wanted to keep trying new things like this (with their blessing) to further help sell the book. Experimentation is always fun!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I first met David Meerman Scott when he interviewed me for his book The New Rules of Marketing & PR. Since then we have stayed in touch and crossed paths more then once at conferences we were both speaking at. He’s a very smart and laid back guy and I think that is why we hit it off so well.

When I got a chance to read his newest book World Wide Rave, I couldn’t wait to sit down and discuss it with him and that is today’s Managing the Gray. The book doesn’t come out for another month, but until then you can visit the World Wide Rave web site and get the latest information. He’s got some fun stuff planned for the book release and I’m looking forward to seeing how people react to it. You might want to think about following David on Twitter for the latest information.

As I talk about on the show, I recorded this with the Griffin iTalk application and I’m in love with this iPhone application. I can’t recommend it enough.

If you like what you hear today why not consider subscribing through the feed or directly in iTunes.

You can find out more about me the host C.C. Chapman or my company The Advance Guard as well.

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.

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.

The snow has fallen here in New England (as you can see in my front yard below) and Christmas is just around the corner. That means that 2009 is not that far away so today’s Managing the Gray focuses on a few core things you should be doing in the last days of 2008 to make sure that 2009 is a great one for you and your business.

This episode features a call in from Keith Burtis of Magic Woodworks talking about his new job with Best Buy Remix. I’m very proud of him and asked him to give a call in to tell all the other listeners about the new job.

If you want to see the snow videos I talked about on the show they can both be found on the newly launched One Guy’s Thoughts.

Finally, if you haven’t seen it yet, the Social Media Expert Question video can also be watched. I’d love your feedback on it.

Oh, and if you have a moment it seems that this show has been nominated for some recognition. You can vote for it here if you are interested.

Thank you for all your support this year. You’ve helped make 2008 quite a good year for me and I can’t say thank you enough. Talk to you in 2009!

The winners are:

Mainstream & Large Scale Social Networks

Winner: Netlog
Runner-up: Platinum Lounge

Embeddable Widgets

Winner: Qoof
Runner-up: Sprout

Blog Plugins

Winner: ShareThis
Runner-up: AddThis

Social News

Winner: Help a Reporter Out
Runner-up: Hubdub

Social Networking Applications

Winner: Aritition
Runner-up: Digsby

Social Bookmarking

Winner: Diigo
Runner-up: ShareThis

Search & Social Search

Winner: Scour
Runner-up: Artiklz

Sports & Fitness

Winner: Gyminee
Runner-up: FitFiend

Photo Sharing

Winner: ipernity
Runner-up: TinyPic

Video Sharing

Winner: ffwd
Runner-up: YouTube

Start Pages

Winner: Google
Runner-up: iGoogle

Places & Events

Winner: Doodle
Runner-up: Muchmor

Travel

Winner: SpottedByLocals
Runner-up: GeckoGo

Music

Winner: Noisetrade
Runner-up: Last.fm

Social Shopping

Winner: Pikaba
Runner-up: A Full Cup

Fashion

Winner: Coolspotters
Runner-up: Polyvore

Celebrity & Gossip

Winner: Oh No They Didn’t
Runner-up: BollyScoops

Mobile Applications

Winner: Evernote
Runner-up: MocoSpace

Dating & Romance

Winner: Zoosk
Runner-up: DateHookup

Wiki

Winner: Encyclopedia Dramatica
Runner-up: WikiHow

Politics

Winner: Politics4All
Runner-up: CreateDebate

How-to

Winner: A Full Cup
Runner-up: College Cram

Environmental

Winner: Ecomii
Runner-up: Gazelle

Non-Profit Causes

Winner: Stop Political Calls
Runner-up: SocialVibe

Online Games

Winner: Playfish
Runner-up: Power Pets

Niche Social Networks

Winner: The Star Tracker
Runner-up: Wadja

I haven’t recorded a carcast in a long time and to get technical this would be a truckcast. I don’t think I’ve ever done one for Managing the Gray.

I’ve been using the iTalk iPhone application and working through some problems with it that now appear to be fixed and I love that I can record anywhere I am.

I had this idea about social media being like water. It all came about from me telling someone that too many companies are diving into the shallow end of the pool without thinking about hitting the bottom. As I drove to a meeting that idea kept bubbling and bouncing and I wanted to capture my thoughts and figured why not share them with you.

You’ll hear me call this live brainstorming and that is exactly what it is. It is far from a fully baked idea and I’d love your input on it. Some of my thoughts included:

• Don’t be afraid to dive into the deep end of the pool. Sometimes it makes more sense.
• Always look at the water you are diving into and try to make sure there are not major rocks or sticks that you are going to hit your head on.
• Sometimes going in feet first makes a lot more sense then head first.
• Water by itself can be boring after you have drank it a few times. What can you add to it that makes it more fun and refreshing?
• Water is best when added to other things.
• Water is made into beer.
• When you first walk into a pool or the ocean it is cold and scary, but the longer you spend in it you get more comfortable.

Am I crazy to say that social media is like water? I REALLY want your input and thoughts on this. I’m already putting together the presentation in my head.

Thank you for the continued support and if you have a moment leave an iTunes review. There have been some new listeners around these parts lately and I love hearing from you. Drop me an e-mail anytime.

You want to know what the secret to social media success is? I give it on the show, but I’ll tell you here too. It is a simple one, that there is NO silver bullet for success. No big secret right? But, you’d be amazed at how many people and companies do think it will magically solve all their problems. Managing the Gray is here to tell you otherwise.

Today’s episode was inspired by an article in the latest Rolling Stone that talks about how Obama’s campaign was run and how he became President. One sentence in it set me off and got me thinking about the keys to running a successful campaign today.

I talk about this much more on show, but the basic outline for success in your marketing campaigns in my mind is:

1. Clearly define a measurable goal
2. Develop a strategy to reach that goal
3. Set up a team that is dedicated to the strategy and then empower them to work towards the goal. Trust them!
4. As setbacks arise, don’t let them take away your focus on the goal. Deal with them and move on.
5. Build a community and constantly feed them so they don’t burn out.
6. When you reach the goal celebrate and make sure the community takes part in the party.
7. Set a new goal and start over.

Thank you for the continued support and if you have a moment leave an iTunes review. There have been some new listeners around these parts lately and I love hearing from you. Drop me an e-mail anytime.

Voting begins now and goes until Sunday, November 30th at 11:59 pm PST. So be sure to take a moment and vote for your favorites in each category. When the winners are announced I’ll be sure to list them here as well

I had no plans to record today until I saw someone twitter about this new video from Gary Vaynerchuk about yelling vs. whispering.It is his usual loud, energetic self and that is what I loved about it, but what made me want to record was his comment about “respecting your DNA” and that one little line kicked off today’s Managing the Gray .

Topics Discussed:

• Is it in a company’s DNA to embrace social media and emerging technologies?
• Why ROI is critical, but so is caring about your customers.
• My thoughts so far on Age of Conversation 2 and Tactical Transparency

I put that in quotes because I didn’t have a clue why this was important to me. Sure, I know enough to know that WiMax can mean faster service, but since I’m already a customer would this mean I’d have to pay more money? Did I need to buy a new modem for something that I would only be able to get in certain areas?

I asked this of the person who reached out to me and instead of writing back the answers they asked Scott Martin from XOHM to answer the questions for me on video. It was a little strange that they sent me a video file that I had to upload somewhere in order to blog post about it, but still they took the extra step to make it a bit more personal which I liked.

Use the widget below to nominate your favorites.

Watch CBS Videos Online

While the jury is still out on how they are going to leverage the social media space, they do have a Facebook Fan Page and a Twitter account set up. So they are taking steps in the right direction. But, will they actively work with the community and make this more then a simple video series? That is what I’m curious to find out.

I do love that Saturn is worked into the story line as the main characters husband runs a dealership and of course she drives one in the episode. They get the plug in for the new Hybrid (which I didn’t know about till I watched this and now it is on my personal radar) without making it an annoying product placement.

The playful and flirty nature of it is one that is also smart. Obviously they are going after the mom market with this series and keeping it a nice mix of types of moms as well.

I’m curious to see where it goes, but so far it got my attention and has me watching for more. Of course they seem to have forgotten any sort of subscribe feature which is a huge mistake on their part. Depending on me to remember to go back and see if there is a new episode is a major miss for them and I hope they fix it.

Being a good soul, the speaker asked again, “I mean, what do you do? What sort of work are you in so we can help answer this question as targeted to you as possible.”

I don’t want to pick on this person because this is something I see way to often at an event. Much more then I care to believe. While I don’t want you to pitch me when I ask this question, if anyone is going to know the answer to the question it better be you!

Companies always strive for the perfect “elevator pitch” and I’ve seen more then one conversation about the hipster version now being to fit it within 140 characters so it can go on Twitter.

At the end of the day, you must know your own personal pitch as well. As corny as that sounds if you can’t at least introduce yourself and say what you do then a conference is not going to be as beneficial to you as it can be. Don’t think of it as a pitch, but rather as your personal story.

At a minimum you need to be able to tell me:

• Who you are (first name is fine)
• Where you live (general geography works)
• What you do for work (ok, to not share the company if you don’t want to)
• What drives you (not always the same as where you work)

All of these are basics that I can’t even believe people wouldn’t be prepared to answer. If you don’t want to talk about work, that is cool, but at least be able to talk about yourself.

Take five minutes before the next conference or social gathering to and think about how you’d answer the question, “And you are?”

If I was to ask you that today what would you say?

I presented at the New Marketing Summit yesterday and was given a ten minute slot to talk just before lunch. I wanted to make it an information filled ten minutes, so I decided to make a list of ten social media tools that everyone should try in order to get a quick introduction to the space.

My goal was to have ten things that anyone could sign up for and try out over the course of a week during their lunch break. I didn’t want anything that cost money or was a complete waste of time.

As soon as I got home I realized that I wanted to record a Managing the Gray going through the ten items because I had to fly through it yesterday. I love Chris Brogan, but only having 10 minutes was hard! *grin*

In case you don’t have time to listen to the show, the 10 things were:

1. Google yourself, your brand, your competitors. See what is being said and where you rank.
2. Set up multiple Google Alerts based around anything you want to be automatically notified about when a post appears online.
3. Begin using Twitter. Even if you use it more to read what others are saying then saying much yourself. Use Twitter Search to see what you might have missed on a topic such as your brand.
4. Join a social network. The two I recommend getting started with are LinkedIn and Facebook
5. Sign up for newsletters. The three I showed are MarketingVox, WOMMA and MarketingProfs as great starters to keep you informed.
6. Get a Flickr account even if you don’t plan on sharing photos. Search for events that you know are going on to start getting to know the people and faces.
7. Read constantly. Shelfari and Goodreads can both help you see what other people are reading and get your new marketing bookshelf started.
8. Attend events because nothing beats face-to-face. I love using Upcoming to see what is going on and what my friends are attending.
9. Evernote is what I use to capture everything that gets my attention. I like to think of it as my virtual Moleskine.
10. Yelp allows you to review and discover vendors of all sorts anywhere in the world.

You can view the slides that go along with this on SlideShare, where I put all my presentations.

What would you add to this list?

I have been trying to make sure that I read more and more as it is something that I love, but know that with my schedule must make time for if I’m going to do it. Since I’ve been reading more I wanted to give you two quick reviews of two books that I really think you’ll enjoy and that as a member the Managing the Gray tribe would be of interest to you.

The two books reviewed on today’s show are:

• Tribes : We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin
• The Truth About You : Your Secret to Success by Marcus Buckingham

While I’m not far enough to do a real review of it, I also mentioned that I’m currently reading Iconoclast : A Neuroscientist Reveals How to Think Differently by Gregory Berns. So far it is heavy ready, but worth it.

If you’ve read any of these books please leave your thoughts about them in the comments.

What books are you reading that I should be?