The Ying & Yang of Blogging
11/13/2006
Tomorrow Marianne Richmond and I have the pleasure of conducting a workshop for a Fortune 500 company. In respect for their privacy, bloggy transparency is suspended. So instead, since I’m among friends on Diva Marketing, I wanted to mind-dump some thoughts that run through my head before every workshop and presentation I do on social media/blogs.
Oh sure, the presentation is created. Pretty Power Point slides that we spent days and days crafting. But the soul of the session is where my thoughts turn hours before I meet people who are new to social media. Paying gig or not – when the ‘curtain goes up’ it can not be about me .. it must be about them. And each group is unique with their own challenges, concerns and assumptions.
So I think …
How can I best convey the excitement of a new marketing opportunity that opens the doors to customer communications? How can I help them appreciate that something as odd sounding as a “Blog” and yet as simple as “a little website where people can talk back to you” is changing the dynamics and the paradigm of marketing and of business?
How can I help them understand that yes, the new and innovative usually comes with a few risks, but the rewards far out weigh the downside .. if you understand the rules and culture of this game. And yes, you can indeed color outside the lines IF, as in jazz, you first understand the basic notes. I’m betting Jeneane Sessum's musician, blogger, husband George Sessum, could give us a few hints.
Sidebar: Girlfriend, love that word – Alas. We’d never use it
in verbal conversation but it is so fun to throw in when are text
talking!
How can I convay the idea that similar to the ancient Ying and Yang concept, business blogs are not completely from the head (strategy) nor from the heart (passion). The most successful are a combination of both. They can not exist without each other.
If I were David Armano or Dave Gray I might draw clever diagrams. Alas, words and enthusiasm are my tools. So I fool around with words and ideas and hope that a little passion goes a long way. Here’s a play on B-L-O-G that I had fun with today.
B - Businesses
L – Listening & Learning
O – Opportunities
G – (for) Growth
Graphic complements of Dominique Gaudin
