While attending LeWeb in Paris, I caught up with the 99Faces crew to discuss trends in social media for 2011 and 2012. Among the many topics we touch, we spent a fair amount of time exploring the evolving influence of social media on… – Mainstream lifestyle and culture – The rise of curation – Elevating the importance of transparency and engagement between businesses and customers – Businesses dynamics and the need to open the doors between silos – Politics and…
Engage with Purpose
I was recently interviewed by my friends at WebCopyPlus. I thought I’d share it with you here… At a time when everyone with a smart phone and a Twitter account boasts social media genius, digital analyst Brian Solis renews our faith in the existence of intelligent discourse in that realm. Author of Engage!, a comprehensive guide for businesses vying for success in the social web, Solis offers practical advice on how to build a social media strategy and measure its…
Engage 2.0 is Now Online and in a Bookstore Near You
I’ve some great news to share with you! One year after its official release Engage 2.0 is now available… If you just bought the original Engage, don’t worry, this book doesn’t replace it. Engage 2.0 is a different book with a different purpose. When it came time to release Engage in paperback I was asked if there were any changes I wanted to make before going to press. The answer was an emphatic yes. I took this opportunity not because…
6 Ways Social Media Helps Your Presentation Resonate
Guest post by Nancy Duarte, founder of Duarte, author of Resonate and Slide:ology. Follow her on Twitter and read her blog. Social media has forced presentations to become an interactive conversation. Presenters who embrace audience participation are connecting their audiences to their ideas in a more meaningful way. Using social media as a connection tool goes beyond just looking at the twitter feed to assess if you were boring or not. There are six ways to utilize social media while…
Zappos’ Tony Hsieh Delivers Happiness Through Service and Innovation
Part three in a four-part series on innovation and change as the new schools of business management… To call Zappos an online shoe store takes away from the brilliance behind the 12-year-old e-commerce powerhouse. While its original premise was based on helping people find the shoes they want, in one place, online, and discounted, it certainly evolved into something nothing short of disruptive. As we hear so often with technology startups, Zappos was born in a college dorm room. Already…
Twitter Co-Founder Jack Dorsey and the Ideas that Sparked a Revolution
Part two in a four-part series on innovation and change as the new schools of business management… Jack Dorsey is the co-founder of Twitter and Square. He has since rejoined Twitter as Executive Chairman and will focus on product development to further Twitter’s mainstream appeal. He also remains CEO of Square. What follows is my uncut interview with Dorsey for a recent Entrepreneur Magazine cover story. Maybe you have to have helped conceive Twitter to be bold enough to take…
The Dilemma’s Innovator: Innovation and Change as the New Pillars of Business
If necessity is the mother of invention, then perhaps imagination is the source of innovation. In December 2010, I was given the opportunity to write the cover story for Entrepreneur Magazine. The article, “Change: Lessons on What’s Next,” explored the innovation behind three (well four) companies — Foursquare, Square + Twitter, and Zappos. Throughout the years, I’ve had the opportunity to spend time with Dennis Crowley, Jack Dorsey and Tony Hsieh. And over that time, I’ve observed inherent traits that…
Social CRM – Getting Down to Reality
Guest post by Paul Greenberg, author of CRM at the Speed of Light. Follow him on Twitter, please read his blog. First things first. Thank you, Brian. I am truly thrilled that I’m getting the honor of addressing your friends and I’m more thrilled even to be able to call you a friend. You know, I’ve spent a lot of time looking at the CRM market, as an analyst, consultant, journalist, blogger and whatever other chameleon-like title you can give…
B2B Social Media Lead Generation Explained
Guest post by Eric Schwartzman and Paul Gillin B2B social media marketing is particularly well suited for business-to-business lead generation. Business purchasing decisions are made by stakeholder committees with diverse priorities and a voracious appetite for details. Social media is the most efficient channel for committees of engineers, product developers, purchasing managers and marketers to self-educate, and a way for marketers to abbreviate sales cycles. B2B social media makes it possible for marketers to inform communities with greater fidelity and…
Revolution Series 2 Debut: How Mercedes Benz Successfully Uses Social Media to Engage
Social media marketing is gaining in awareness and acceptance by businesses all over the world. According to a recent report published by Burson-Marsteller… 67% of Fortune Global 100 companies use Twitter to directly engage with consumers. This is a 78% increase over the previous year. And, 9 out of 10 companies are talked about on Twitter. When you think about social media and customer engagement, luxury brands are viewed upon through a different lens. The question is, are buyers of…
