DebbieWeil

Rememberthesefourwords…Web2.0.Hereisasecondlink.Web2.0isimportantbecauseit

willbeloadedwithsocialmediaandisthebasisforlearningtheseimportanttools.Ms.Weil’sbookandpresentationhighlightedthis.Holdontoherslides…youmaybeusingtheminapresentationinyourfutureasyoutakewhatevercompanyornotforprofityouarepartofintotheWeb2.0future.

Justacoupleofwordsof“disappointment”.Justoneofyou“twittered”MsWeil.Shegotabonus.

Hereiswhatyoulearned….

• Fearofbeingcriticizedorridiculedpreventsmanycompaniesfromblogging• Mostbloggingisorshouldbedoneabouttopicsrelatedtoyourproducts,notabouttheproduct

itself• Goodbloggingisgoodwriting,goodwritingisstorytelling• Companiesarenowsendingtextstoloyalcustomersaboutnewproductinformationand

promotions• Twitterisatext‐messagetypebloggingwebsite.TheCEOofZapposevenhasone• Ifyoublog,Googlewillfindyou.Theylikeblogsandblogentries.• 49%ofyoungadultsarecellphoneonlyusers• Peopleare32%morelikelytobuyiftheycanreadblogbeforethepurchase.Itisalotof

paybackforhavingablogonthewebsite.• Don’tblogaboutwidgets,butblogabouttheproducts.Itisafinelineonhowtodoit.• Itisanexperienceanditletscustomersgetinvolved• It’saboutthewriting,itneedstobegoodandpeoplewillnoticeit• Yourbrandneedsablog.Thisgivesyouaninsightintoyourproductfromaconsumer

standpoint.• Peoplecaremoreaboutwhattheirfriendsandpeerssayratherthanacompany• Toblogsuccessfully,takeoffyourmarketingorPRhatandadoptanewmindset…Delivervalue

withoutselling• Simplicity,unexpectedness,concreteness,emotion,credibilityandstoryareallveryimportant

forblogs• E‐retailblogsworkbecausecustomersareinterestedinwhatothercustomershavetosay• It’sallaboutthecontentontheblog.That’swhatmakesitgood.• Blueflyisjustnotaboutsellingtheirproducts.Theyshowyouwhatyoucandowiththeproduct,

ifsomeonethatisfamoususesitandwhy.Thereareothertipsandquotesthatgoalongwiththeproductorjustacleverthingtoputonthewebsitetokeepitinterestingandthewebsitelong.

• Twitteristextmessaging,only140charactersatatime,andonlythefollowerscanlookatothermessagesandcommentonthem.Youcanwriteonethroughyourphoneoronthecomputer.

• Havetocreatevaluetoyourreaderbysellingaproductwithoutwellingit.Peoplearetellingastory,iftheylikeitornotandwhy.Everyonehasdifferentthoughtsabouteveryproduct.Ithinkitisbettertobetalked/writtenaboutthannooneeverknowsthatyouexist.

DebbieWeil

• Blogsarelikethinkingoutloud.Theydon’talwayshavetobebrilliant.• Companiesuselessfreelancepeopletowriteblogsthanwhatyouwouldexpect.Usuallyuse

peoplewithinthecompany• Can’tbepartofretailingwithoute‐retailingaffectingyourbusiness• Negativeeffectscancomeaboutfrom“ghostwriting”• Ifyoureachoutandcollaboratewithyourcustomers,theymighthavemoreideasthanyoudo• Blogging’spurposeistoreceivefeedback• Ihavelearnedthatourgenerationandthewayweliveiswhatmatters.Wearetheconsumers

andarerevolutionizingthemarket• Allbusinessesshouldbeblogging,nomatterhowlargeorsmall• DebbieWeil,forbeingolder,stillhasmanymorerevolutionaryideasthankidsourage‐From

theperspectiveofa59yearoldwhitemiddleclassmale…sheisjustright.• Aretailblogcouldworkbecauseyourbusinesscangaincredibilitybyhearingothertestimonies

aboutacompany/product• Tribeisagroupofpeopleconnectedtooneanother,connectedtoaleader,connectedtoa

commonidea–SethGodin• OneinfiveU.S.adultshavenolandline• 800‐CEO‐READ.comisareviewsourceforbusinessbooks• Twitterisaveryfastwayofblogging• Sometimespeopleinthecommunityknowmoreaboutsolvingacertainproblemthanpeople

whoareactuallyworkinginthecompany• Weareinthemiddleoftheinternet/e‐retailrevolution• E‐retailbloggingallowsyoutoobtainpricelessfeedbackthatwillallowyoutobetteryour

product/service.It’snotthatyoucannotfigureitout,butitgivesyouadifferentperspective.• Socialplatformsaretoolstoputyouaheadofthegame.Bloggingisontop!• Therearewaystolinkyoursalesabilitytothecompanyblogthatlinksdirectlytothesite.–I

honestlyneverknewcompaniesdidthatandIthinkit’sgenius!• Twitterisreallythenextstepinbloggingwithquickresponse.Anycompanythatcandothe

blogswellorhasabilityshouldreallylookintoTwitter.• Ablogisplatformwhereotherkeysocialplatformscanexist,thereforeholdsmoreimportance.• Cleverinblogsworks.Clevertitle,clevercontent,areallgreatwaystogetattentionandifyou

getthecustomers’attention…theyare30%morelikelytopurchaseafterreadingtheblog.• E‐retailbloggingisanexperience• Creatingcommunityretainscustomers• Companieswanttobe#1intheonlineconversationabouttheirbrand,soitisimportantfor

themtoblogforshowingupinsearchengines.Thishelpsthemcontroltheconversation• Customersreadingblogsdon’twanttobesoldto.Theywanthumorandentertainment.• Ifpeoplearetalkingaboutyourproductorbrand,youwanttobeasinvolvedaspossibleinthe

conversation.• Itisoktohireawritertowriteyourblog,justbesureitiscleartoblogreaders.• Blogskeepgoingifyouhavecontentstrategythattiesintowhatyouareselling• Can’tbebroadidea,shouldbemorespecific

DebbieWeil

• Whenyouwriteabloganddon’tpublishit,itiscalledadiary.• Designandappearanceareimportantinblogsbecauseitispleasingtotheeye• Ghostblogging:whensomeoneelsewritesablogforyou–riskyandimpersonal• Youcannotpushsomeoneintoblogging• Ifyouwanttosetyourselfapartfromthecompetitionintheworkplacestartablog• Peopledon’twanttobesoldto,theywanttobeengagedbythematerial• BloggingisagreataccesspointforCEOandcustomerconnection.Canseeproblemsdirectlyand

appropriatelyassistcustomers.• Blogginghelpscustomersknowwhatothercustomershavetosayandallowcustomerstoknow

howexecutivesrespondtowhatcustomershavetosay• Blogsareonepieceofthesocialmediapuzzle• 49%ofyoungadults(18‐29)arecellphoneonlyusers• Bloggingismoreserviceableforsmallbusinesssoyoudon’tneedtohirePR• Asstudents,weonlyfeelthat25%ofwhatwelearnedduringourcollegecareerhasbeen/will

beuseful• Companiesneedtoblogmoresothattheyknowwhattheylack,whattheyneedtofixtosatisfy

customers• Evenifyoudon’tactuallysellsomething,you,asacompany,canstillearnanddelivervalueby

presentinganexcellentblog• Youwanttohaveblankspace,images,videos,bulletpoints,subheadingsonablogpage.Clutter

canbeoverwhelming• Bloggingisdifferentmedia.It’spersonal!• 3conceptsofblogging:goodwriting,definingcommunity,importanceofwalkingthetalk• Consumersbuymorefromwebsiteiftheyalsoblog• Ifacompanycanjustreachoutandcooperatewiththecustomers,theywillgetmore

informationthantheydoresearchingontheirown• Zappos,DellandComcastallhaveTwitter.WhenyoumentiontheminablogonTwitterthenit

willnotifythecompany• Blogsareessentialtoolsforcustomerhelp.Insteadofusingcorporatetimetoanswerquestions,

youcanletcustomersanswerquestions• Nooneinclassispayingforalandline• Peoplecarealotmoreaboutwhattheirpeerssayaboutbuyingsomethingthanwhatthe

companiessay(trusttheirpeersbecausetheyaren’tmakingaprofit).• ZapposCEOhas15,081followersandheisfollowing17,573Twitterers• Bloggingwillgiveorincreasetheexposureofabusiness,makingiteasytoreachawider

audience• Properlytargetingtheaudiencecanalsobeacrucialpartofasuccessfulbusiness• Blogvisitorsarereallyinterestedinwhatfellowconsumershavetosayratherthancompeting

companies• IfyouareacompanyCEOyoudon’tnecessarilyneedtoknoweverylittledetailaboutthe

companyorproductbecauseiftheyblogandreachouttotheircustomerstheycanhelpoutoncreatingideasanddiscussingdifferentissuesthatcomeupaboutyourproduct.

DebbieWeil

• Businessestendtouseinhousepeoplefortheirblog,generallynotfreelancewriters.Interesting.IappreciatethatbutIdon’tthinkitwillalwaysbethisway.Ifeellikeinthefuturewhenbloggingbecomesreallyhuge,companieswillhirefreelancewriters.Therejustwon’tbeenoughtimeinthedayforthemtotakethetimetoblog.

• Blogsmusthaveaspecificthemewithtopicsrelatedunderonecategory• Goodwaytosellaproductorideawithoutputtingmuchworkintoit.Goodwordofmouthwill

reallyhelpdriveyourproductintothehandsoftheconsumers• Networking–connectingwithpeoplethroughbloggingandpagessuchasFacebook• Useablogthatsellsyourskills,marketingandproductallathesametimewithoutdirectlydoing

it• Havingablogonlinelooksgoodtoemployersifyouareinformativeanduseful• Youcanuseblogstoinformcustomersaboutsimilarproductstheymightbeinterestedinor

informationtheymightfinduseful• Bloggingcanbemorepersonal• Writingisstillveryusefulandnotalostart,especiallywithblogging• Companiesneedtogetoverthefearofbeingcriticizedandtakingariskwhendecidingtostarta

blogornot.Bloggingisveryessentialtomakeacompanysuccessful..• Manycompaniesdon’tfeelblogginghasapurposeintheirbusiness• Sharingopinionswithotherconsumershelpspeoplemakedecisions/inferencesaboutthebrand

–moreimportantthanPRoradvertisingmessages• Weshop,thereforeweblog‐Brilliant

Ilikedthequalityofyour“learnings”soallinclassthisdaygot+_10forabonusintheirweeklysalary.Youknow10ptshereand10ptsthereaddsuptopointsofimportance.

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