Top 10 reasons why I’m over your “top-10 list”

I am officially over your top ten list! For some reason many folks seem to have a top ten lists for everything/ only posts top-ten. The list’s often consist of bad or lame or trite advice/information.  For some reason top ten lists get shared all the time and seem like they really matter. In hopes that this post gets the word out I will make a top ten list of why I’m sick of your top ten list!

10. Your blog is not a late night TV show… If I really wanted to see top ten lists I could go to hulu and watch them until I die of old age. 

9. You are saying exactly what everyone else is saying… If someone doesn’t have a business page on Facebook it is unlikely they are going to get one because of you. 

8. You are being Lazy… Try pre-writing and provide actual depth to your writing also consider using bullets to break up text.

7. You are destroying it for everyone else… Since every blog you and most blogs other people write are top ten lists, when the rest of us want to do one we are stuck entering over saturation. 

6. You are probably recycling what someone else put…I could copy and paste 100s of top ten lists every day, and they would be “unique” because they would be a mashup. 

5. Not everything has a numerical value… I literally saw a post ranking the top 10 reasons why an @reply is better than a Direct message on twitter. Really one reason is better than another for that? Really? (Why not rank your kids numerically?)

4. You are repeating yourself… Most top ten lists will repeat one point in some way shape or form at least once! 

3. You are repeating yourself… Most top ten lists will repeat one point in some way shape or form at least once! (I did that on purpose… this message needs to get out and I don’t want to break format there by messing up the formula)

2. You are not an expert… I have seen a flurry of posts about the top-10 reasons that Facebook will do an IPO in 2011, which is not likely, include reasons that make no sense (ie The market is low right now.. so Facebook’s value will rise faster?). One  of the  great things about blogging is anyone can do it, but if you have a top-10 list please be an expert, or do a top ten list of your favorites. 

1. You insult your audience… Generally the list establishes the author as an expert and the reader a mindless idiot. (which I may have done, if so I am sorry)

This is the first top ten list I have ever done. I believe we need  more creativity in our creative expressions. Next time you are doing a top-ten list ask your self if it really needs to be quantified. This post isn’t written for everyone so it may not apply. However I think we should be a little more careful/aware of how we use this specific literary device! 

I was going to Reblog this yesterday… but we all know what happened with that! So I will Reblog it now! 

turbomin:

This dude is MY ALL TIME FAVORITE Gary Vaynerchuk or @GaryVee on twitter has got this nailed and its up to you if you are going to sit back and ignore this or come to the realization that this is the way people are doing business! 

Mindy Wender

www.MindyWender.com 

Lets Talk tumblr… Search!  search.twitter.com  is a very powerful tool. I would say it has a lot to do with my ability to find friend and engage with interesting people. Tumblr lets you search too, and its about 90% of the reason I have fallen in love with this network. This is the first time I am able to take my Twitter strategy (its pretty simple care about people) to the blogosphere!  Use it and engage with people…  When you find an interesting post you must do one of these four things… Like: this is low commitment… find the post like it Follow: basically you find this person to have interesting content so you follow them from their dashboard Reblog the post on your blog Comment if you can… let the author know your thoughts. (Some people don’t have this as an option)
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Lets Talk tumblr… Search! 

search.twitter.com  is a very powerful tool. I would say it has a lot to do with my ability to find friend and engage with interesting people. Tumblr lets you search too, and its about 90% of the reason I have fallen in love with this network. This is the first time I am able to take my Twitter strategy (its pretty simple care about people) to the blogosphere! 

Use it and engage with people… 

When you find an interesting post you must do one of these four things…

  1. Like: this is low commitment… find the post like it
  2. Follow: basically you find this person to have interesting content so you follow them from their dashboard
  3. Reblog the post on your blog
  4. Comment if you can… let the author know your thoughts. (Some people don’t have this as an option)
How the four stages affect a pitch When I speak to a founder, that founder has to do several things: Be aware of the stage they’re at now. A founder who talks about scaling the business, or moving into adjacent markets, without having proven that their product can be sold, is focusing prematurely on the wrong things. This is almost always a very bad sign. In a lean startup, self-awareness is everything. Prove to me that they’ve completed the previous stages. In many cases, a founder will say, “I’ve talked to five people who said they would buy it” and proceed to emphasize market-stage tasks, when in fact they need far more product validation. This is a bad sign, because it means they’re satisfied with weak proof and tend to look for the answers they want to hear. Prove to me that they understand the challenges of the stages that lie ahead. The other common discussion I have with people is their belief that because they’ve proven the technology, they’ll magically reach their market in a profitable manner. This is also a bad sign, and it’s common among technologists who don’t recognize that selling and scaling are hard. (via Idea, product, market, business: Four stages of growth) Great info for people invested in starting a business. These are not easy take away’s but the information is priceless. 
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How the four stages affect a pitch When I speak to a founder, that founder has to do several things:

Be aware of the stage they’re at now. A founder who talks about scaling the business, or moving into adjacent markets, without having proven that their product can be sold, is focusing prematurely on the wrong things. This is almost always a very bad sign. In a lean startup, self-awareness is everything.

Prove to me that they’ve completed the previous stages. In many cases, a founder will say, “I’ve talked to five people who said they would buy it” and proceed to emphasize market-stage tasks, when in fact they need far more product validation. This is a bad sign, because it means they’re satisfied with weak proof and tend to look for the answers they want to hear.

Prove to me that they understand the challenges of the stages that lie ahead. The other common discussion I have with people is their belief that because they’ve proven the technology, they’ll magically reach their market in a profitable manner. This is also a bad sign, and it’s common among technologists who don’t recognize that selling and scaling are hard. (via Idea, product, market, business: Four stages of growth)

Great info for people invested in starting a business. These are not easy take away’s but the information is priceless. 

Source: yearonelabs.com

Infographic: The Online Domain of a Fashion Brand by OKGO.nl (by marjolijn.) This is a really good macro on how to grow a fashion brand. The website is the home base, twitter, youtube, and Facebook are included but so are sites like Look book and cool spotters. Fashion Bloggers are also included as a group. When talking about creating a Social Media strategy, macros like this are the starting point. Each bubble should be broken into a more defined strategy.  Map your industry, know where you must have a voice. Prioritize importance, develop strategy and start working… If this strategy is too hard to develop I suggest hiring an agency to provide social Research and strategy. If you don’t have experience with Social Research I suggest you hire an agency to help. The learning curve for tools like Radian 6, or Sysomos are really really long. Having someone that does this on a regular basis is a really smart investment. They should be able to see things you do not. (feel free to send me an e-mail if you need help ** see my contact page** )  ***Agency’s without a lot of Social Media research experience it is ok to partner so you can add this to your portfolio. Not an area to fake it until you make it!  
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Infographic: The Online Domain of a Fashion Brand by OKGO.nl (by marjolijn.)

This is a really good macro on how to grow a fashion brand. The website is the home base, twitter, youtube, and Facebook are included but so are sites like Look book and cool spotters. Fashion Bloggers are also included as a group. When talking about creating a Social Media strategy, macros like this are the starting point. Each bubble should be broken into a more defined strategy. 

Map your industry, know where you must have a voice. Prioritize importance, develop strategy and start working… If this strategy is too hard to develop I suggest hiring an agency to provide social Research and strategy.

If you don’t have experience with Social Research I suggest you hire an agency to help. The learning curve for tools like Radian 6, or Sysomos are really really long. Having someone that does this on a regular basis is a really smart investment. They should be able to see things you do not.

(feel free to send me an e-mail if you need help ** see my contact page** ) 

***Agency’s without a lot of Social Media research experience it is ok to partner so you can add this to your portfolio. Not an area to fake it until you make it!  

Source: Flickr / marjolyn

How Communities Really Behave (by Dave Linabury) If you are community manager these are elements that you should be looking at. How does chart effect your strategy on different networks. The reality is that these trends apply to all online communities. Every network should have its own engagement flow chart for each account that is managed. The flow chart should be made well enough that you can be replaced. It should provide clear direction to a team if your success calls for growth. I have seen far too many community managers shoot themselves in the foot because they cant equip a new person to step in. A growth plan should be part of your Social Media Strategy. 
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How Communities Really Behave (by Dave Linabury)

If you are community manager these are elements that you should be looking at. How does chart effect your strategy on different networks. The reality is that these trends apply to all online communities.

Every network should have its own engagement flow chart for each account that is managed. The flow chart should be made well enough that you can be replaced. It should provide clear direction to a team if your success calls for growth.

I have seen far too many community managers shoot themselves in the foot because they cant equip a new person to step in. A growth plan should be part of your Social Media Strategy. 

Source: Flickr / davezilla

Tumblr is about to blow up!

If you don’t use tumblr you may want to start… I reposted this content from (marketinghandy.blogspot.com)… Tumblr has grown leaps and bounds over that last 5 months. It has an avid user base, simple tools that help your blog go viral and the relational component of twitter. (Oh did I mention free hosting for custom URL’s?) The Stats from Quantcast are pretty telling…
The growth is not in the 200 million user range of twitter. However growth is significant and solid. Global growth is strong and it seems that growth has turned a corner in the US… Now is the time to learn the ins and outs of this network, before you are late to the party. The Social network has been around a while but it is on the verge of blowing up, and let me show you why…


The network is pre-college students… That are getting ready to push through and start sharing more substantive insights. Ignore what the data says for a moment about age… I know the network is a key demo because we can piece together 2 pieces of data…

#1: 18-34 is a large age range but we can parse this down to the young end of the spectrum based on other demographic stats *Wages and no college. The site indexes high for low wage/ no college, only up in coming Social networks tend to do this.

#2 No Kids indexes really really high… this suggest that the network is under 27 . Kids generally come into the picture around 25 to 27. The youth of the network paired with no kids indicates a college mindset. If this is your demo this is your time!

Within 2 years tumblr should be one of the fastest growing digital properties on the web.

Marketing Handy Show #2 ROI and Social Media… 

Why I think people are looking for the wrong return on Social Media investments. 

Source: marketinghandy.blogspot.com

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