Online sales cut cookie cycle in half

Little Brownie and the Girl Scouts even provide Cookie Locators (database/map) and Cookie Alerts (RSS feed). There's an iPhone app for cookie lovers on the go.

Attention all cyber scouts and high school boosters, it’s time to start selling online. Avoid trudging street-to-street past the junkmail receptacles (those boxes on a pole that the U.S. Postal Service still uses).

Little Brownie and the Girl Scouts even provide Cookie Locators (database/map) and Cookie Alerts (RSS feed). There’s an iPhone app for cookie lovers on the go. High school boosters and drive ticket salespersons  move their product online, as well. A PayPal purchase or donate button makes things easy.

This will only eliminate one half of the cycle. Delivery (of your cookies, kettlecorn or drive tickets) will still be delivered by U.S. Postal or a cheerful scout or student. But look at all the fuel and shoe leather saved by pitching online.

Visualization: Make the elevator go up and down

Credit: Roy Luck

I learn by listening to others tell their stories. I learn a lot when people give details of their successes and failures. That saves me a few iterations and unhappy clients.

My local church networking group is struggling with providing the most valuable information for job seekers and networking business people. Introductory elevator speeches have become typical and almost have the opposite effect. I’m not learning anything new that I can share with others. We all get used to positioning our labels and revealing what others might want to hear or what might help us sell.

How about we add a gear to that short statement? “I’m a web project manager.” Now, instead of what I do, how about here’s what I’ve done. “This week I helped build a website that helps this client speak to these people. It has this one great feature. Google it, discover it and try it out.”

Give others something to do, something to imagine. Let them visualize what you do instead of trying to memorize your label.

Trying to keep up with the real-time web

Great post on the The Intention Web by Jeremiah Owyang.

Businesses that have a physical location like retail, events, or packaged goods can use this data to anticipate consumer demand. They may offer contextualized marketing, or increase or decrease inventory or store hours to accommodate. Don’t be surprised in the future and you walk into a store with your preferred items, meal, or drink already nicely packaged for you.

How not to get blindsided by social media

Hey, you screwed up. You can:

1. Ignore
2. Respond . . . somewhat
3. Respond with vigor

Even an old dog like David Letterman took some great advice and got way out in front of his recent bad news. Like him or not, agree with him or not, Letterman responded quickly with great vigor.

Here’s EA Sports responding with a fix for a ‘flaw’ that had Tiger Woods walking on water.

Have you seen any other Domino’s like examples of clutch social media relief pitching?

Finish great social media content with conversation

Dave Hamster

OK, this Audi flash module was really annoying (turn the sound down) and the load was almost longer than I was willing to wait, but the company’s social media staff grouped conversation by Twitter, YouTube, News, and Flickr.

Organizing and highlighting Dave Hamster’s photo of an Audi R15 TDi at the Audi Sport North America event was good. Engaging the content and content creator would have been better. “That’s a wonderful photo, Dave.” “Did you know that the Audi R15 TDi . . . .”

Great content should produce great conversation, or at the very least, great conversation from social media staff.

Advertisers and consumers: Ad failure funny

Yes, advertisers need to redefine how they connect with consumers, but will they?

Geert Desager’s video sequel is a powerful and funny illustration of the changing media landscape. Don’t have three minutes? (“Wait, we haven’t even had our muffins yet?”) Try the nicely edited trailer.

Not everybody is as passionate about your products and ideas as you are. Begin at this point: People care about themselves and solving their problems. If you can understand this and create products and ideas that they want to consume you will have shared and gained simultaneously.

Now go watch the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest and enjoy the Fourth.

Social context: Sharing your Facebook experience

What I do for an Xbox 360: Merry Christmas, now die aliens.

Take part in a new social interactive marketing advertisement for a video game called “Prototype.” Try the Prototype Experience (and after a lengthy loading period and a prompt to login with your Facebook account) and you’ll see a shocking personalized trailer. Shocking because family Christmas cards and cycling photos were mixed in with the carnage that the game’s trailer is trying to set up.

The trailer uses and blends your social information in Facebook, including your profile picture, profile information, and photos from your friends.

You have already opted in to the era of Social Context, where content, media, and ads will be personalized.

Read Jeremiah Owyang’s take on the future of the social web.

Social Media Breakfast No. 3 – Get blogging

Dave Rigotti was the featured speaker at our third Social Media Breakfast Toledo event at the Toledo Elks Club. Rigotti spoke on the Do’s and Don’ts of Business Blogging.

Dave is an award-winning online marketer, whose works have been mentioned in such publications as The L.A. Times, Techcrunch, Cleveland Plain Dealer and others. Dave, who was part of the panel for April’s inaugural SMB Toledo, is also the owner of an internet marketing company called Freezing Hot.

We’re learning about social media – and social media breakfast planning. Tell us how to improve our SMB Toledo events at our Ning site.

First Friday in July? Go to the lake and enjoy your Fourth of July weekend. See us on July 10 for Social Media Breakfast No. 4.

A big thanks goes to June’s room sponsor, Toledo small business marketing coach, Patrick Giammarco.

Patrick is the owner of PWG Marketing and NW Ohio’s only Certified Duct Tape Marketing Coach and the founder of Social Media Breakfast Toledo.