Seth Godin posted links to a series of videos up on the AMEX Open site, but I know what happens. Sometimes, we see the links, we recognize that there’s something there, but we don’t actually DO the next step. Well, you’re missing out if you don’t click. The videos are brief. The questions are segmented. Seth is Brilliant. And Tom Peters is on stage, too. It’s all top shelf stuff.
So go here and watch the videos (the little links in the post).
(And Battelle’s team on AMEX Open: wouldn’t you entertain embed codes? I get the goal, but please?)
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These are fantastic! Thanks for sharing Chris!
Seth’s glasses in this are fucking awesome.
i love how confident seth is…like there is nothing you could ask the guy he wouldn’t be able to give you a worthwhile response
Hi Chris,
Seth Godin is one of my heroes and I think these videos are great, too. But one of them made me stop and say “wait a minute, what did he just say?!”
It’s the one titled “Social Networking - good for business?”
http://www.openforum.com/marketing/video_socialgood.html
I’ve watched it several times and I keep coming to the same conclusion: Mr. Godin implies that, for business, real connections can’t be made online through social networking sites, only “fake” connections.
Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I’m misunderstanding what he’s saying. Please tell me if I am.
We all know that Facebook, twitter, MySpace, et al. can be hugely annoying and, yes, fake.
But the question was about *social networking and business*. And that’s a different story, I think, than making “friends” and keeping score for personal reasons.
It all comes down to relevancy. Is twitter the right marketing tool for a brick mason? Probably not. A brick mason’s customers (general contractors) likely aren’t looking for him on twitter.
I could be wrong about that. I don’t know. Just a guess.
On the other hand, if I were a retailer of hip urban wear, you bet your butt I’d be on twitter, linking to items of interest and posting the occasional exclusive coupons for my hipster twitter followers. Much like Amazon and Apple do now.
Then there’s Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library fame. He built his family wine shop into a $50 million dollar monster through tireless and often brilliant use of social media. That’s about as real as it gets in my book.
While I agree that collecting social networking “friends” may not do much for your business, it’s what you do with those “friends”–or potential and current customers–that matters. Not all of them will convert into real-world sales, but many could with the right touch. Again, it’s not easy, but it’s possible.
Admittedly, most of it is fake, but there’s some “real” in there too, and you can find it if you’re willing to experiment like Apple, Amazon, and Gary Vayerchuk.
Maybe I’m the one who is wrong. I don’t know. I’m just a little guy in the marketing world. He’s a giant. But the whole thing blew me away.
I encourage you to watch that one again.
http://www.openforum.com/marketing/video_socialgood.html
Did I misinterpret what he said? Is Seth Godin wrong about social networking and business?
Help!
Thank you so much for sharing. I truly enjoyed watching these videos.
Has Seth opened up his site to allow comments yet?
No? Yea, while he might produce a good message, I just cannot consume it anymore since he’s unreachable and not engaged with his audience.
These videos are well done. They’re short, easy to understand and deliver great messages. Here is what I got from them:
Go beyond simply friending when connecting with people on the Internet - great advice. How many people connect on LinkedIn and never speak to each other again?
Leadership - Hire people you can trust and emplower them to do their job. “Let them be their own boss.”
Decency - Personally, I’ve found clients to be very forgiving when mistakes are madee provided we own up to them, are honest, and want to do the right thing.
Nobody cares about you - great advice for marketers and managers. People come to work to get value for them. They buy products because they want those products to “benefit” them. Want to get people to visit your web site? Don’t write about how great you are. Instead, write about what you can do to benefit them.
John P. Kreiss
MorganSullivan, Inc.
http://www.morgansullivan.com
Hi Chris, Thanks for this post. I caught the videos and did a post a little while back because the videos truly are worth your time and attention.
Since you mentioned it, I think I’ll add my name to the online petition. PLEASE think about embed codes for AMEX Open.
Seth is a great innovator. I always like to see what he has to say about various web technologies and affiliated sites.