New Media marketers on SL Notes
New media marketers Christopher Penn and Michelle Wolverton talk about their strategies on helping promote their musician friend-Matthew Ebel here.
Now this guy “get’s it”…
When Mark Cuban comment’s on basketball I tend to discount somewhat due to natural bias, him being owner of the Dallas Mavericks. When Mark comments on business or marketing I tend to be all ears. This post is one excellent example. His suggestion on how to further music sales using this very aggressive market-friendly approach is just brilliant in my opinion.
After all, isn’t market supposed to be about making it easier for people to buy what they want? What do you think about his idea?
Eeek another social media app…
The other day, SL friend Jane Calvert commented on Twitter, “somebody please make it stop!” She was referring to some new social media nets. Well here is another one, and not even new, but very much in play. Guess what, Jane was the first person to ask me if I’m a member on Facebook, ahh the irony. Well I joined today, and so far I like what I see. Yes many friends I already know from SL or Twitter or podcasting or blogging… The thing that I really like are the groups which are built around brands.
Facebook, seems like good aggregator of many feeds, contacts, internal messaging, etc. I tried Virb the other day, but while it looks good it seemed fairly counter-intuitive when I wanted to remove an rss feed. So will Facebook last among the cool kids? This the one to outlive the other “mayfly” technologies? What do you think?
Getting back to “smiles”
This one keeps making me chew it over in my mind and smiling. The nest episode of Second Life Notes will The Virtual Hot Wings team(except for CC Chapman). So you will hear Matthew Ebel, Christopher Penn, Michelle Wolverton and myself. It was something that Chris Penn said that is tickling my brain. He is going to continue to offer “updates” (my word choice because I forgot his) for free to purchasers of the VH Wings package. That’s right-so if 2 months from now they add something you get it free of charge. Now that is both fan-generated and fan friendly, alright, even fantastic. Can you imagine Microsoft, or Symantec sending you free updates
Culture, language and other filters
In my recent post below, I mention learning to “speak their language” in reference to marketers trying to reach Second Life members. No this is one subject, figure of speech aside, that I have some authority on. I’ve studies Spanish on and off for a total of 8 years and lived in close proximity to Spanish speaking communities in NY, AZ and Mexico. I also studied, Hebrew, Greek, Portuguese and Mandarin Chinese which I’ve been “studying” for the last 20 years.
These filters are tricky. Language comes under culture in hierarchy. The trickiest thing about them is how virtually invisible they are to members. Everyone jokes with New Englanders about “paaacking the caaah.” Do you really think they take notice of that though when conversing among themselves-of course they don’t.
I’ll never forget how I used to drive some Taiwanese friends crazy with all these questions on things from their culture that really interested and stood out to me, and often got kind of baffled expression. Let me give a better example. My first roommate at the University of Arizona dorm I lived in was from Japan. He was there studying English, sponsored by ANA a large Japanese airline. Once, in an effort to stimulate some conversation with him, I asked him what it was like growing up on an island? I thought this was reasonable, since Japan is an island-nation. You should have seen the puzzled look on the poor guys face. Obviously didn’t know how to answer that-more correctly, didn’t have any “awareness” that his normal was an island. Now for the kicker-when it finally dawned on me about 3 weeks later that I too had grown up on an island, quite a big one in fact: Long Island.
Here’s where my fellow New Yorkers get worked up because in “New York speak” Long Island is Nassau and Suffolk counties, well OK. In fact the Long Island proper is made up of those 2 regions(suburbs of NYC in fact) and Brooklyn and Queens! The real point of this island hopping meme is to illustrate how the norm anesthetizes or desensitizes us. Come on-any of you that live in an area that has some tourism know how you laugh when out-of-towners point at stuff or stare at stuff or buy stuff that to you is as special as watching paint peel.
So, since people are prone to lack of awareness to their own surrounding cultures, how should marketers proceed in engaging those people? There are ways to ask questions and do survey samples to get people thinking and helping you, without realizing they are delving into to the cultural archives.
I’ve always enjoyed reading about some of the big marketing bloopers by multinational corporations exhibiting their ignorance of a given market/culture. Like GM’s Chevrolet Nova. One of the best sellers in the US at the time period but a dud in Mexico. Could it be because No va in Spanish means “no go.” Not the most savvy or auspicious name for an automobile implying that it isn’t “mobile.” There are also some great successes. I happen to be very fond of Coca Cola’s Chinese brand name. Kekou kele-literally “tasty and joyous” with sound very close to Coca Cola in English.
Funny how much marketing is like American’s abroad. Don’t speak the language, assume everyone is fluent in English, or certainly will learn enough of it for your visit just to serve you. How is this overcome, well by shouting of course. “How do I get to the Grand Alhambra,” not working then of course you’ll try, “HOW DO I GET TO THE GRAND ALHAMBRA.” That’s always a big hit with the locals, shouting at them in English. LOL.
Ahh, you don’t market internationally or to non-English speaking market. Well scale it. It applies just adjust the scale. You really think Bedford-Stuy and Beverly Hills or Hillsboro all same-same? We live in the land of the Longtail, the niche. So we need to speak “niche-speak” right? OK let’s try, er… ummm. Sprechen Sie nichespeak??
Is Second Life a good business tool?
Hmm, first of all lets define what Second Life is. Well let’s make this easy. Let’s start with what it’s not-SL is not a game. Hope I didn’t stutter, SL is not a game, it is a virtual space, social media tool and sandbox. That being said, of course you can play games in SL just like you can play games in real life. Role playing games, card games, sex games, trivia games in the same way people do in real life. Games are a social exercise, a way to relax.
So how is SL useful to a company or business? Well, it allows you to interact with customers, suppliers, colleagues, etc in a virtual medium. So picture Skype and instead of typing away to a little box with text, you type away to a little box with your client sitting next to you in Nantucket- a lovely seaside resort town, or sitting besides the mid-air skating lake above Dragon Moon sipping a cappuccino or a beer with your supplier from Osaka. How about you and your colleague shooting it up in Saijo City? Full disclosure-I like Eric Rice and his sim(but still no Nikon-sigh).
Trust me on this-I’m in Taiwan thousands of miles away from my customers and friends. I’ve had meetings with them in SL, and it’s almost like being there. Great way to bond and have some fun together too, if time permits.
Finally, what seems to be getting more and more press these days-is SL a good advertising medium? Well let me ask this, “is Topeka, KS?” I know you’re all saying, “what the…” My point stands-SL is not the key to whether advertising works there. The key is, “what are you trying to say, and who are you trying to say it to?”
If you are going to try to market and advertise in SL by using traditional methods, well maybe save that money for the company 401k or company trip to Venus…. However, if you can start thinking out of the box, and do some research into how net savvy people think, and what they’d be receptive to when they are kicking it, well now you might have a fighting chance. Great place to go build mind share. Be careful though-you’re dealing with passionate early-adopters that don’t suffer fools lightly.
So if you want to speak to them, learn their language first. Find out what is significant and fun and mentally stimulating to them. Heck, find out what makes them smile. At the end of the day, we are all in the smiles business. That’s right-if you make them smile you win, you don’t you lose. Put that in your McSwooshies and bounce around. You’re not selling widgets, or gadgets or foam boomerangs, you’re either selling smilesand getting paid, or you’re giving away yawns and getting skunked. Meet people’s needs don’t waste their time. True in real life true in Second Life.
So, any ideas on making them smile? Show me your pearly whites when you’ve got something. Smiles are infectious. 
Connecting with others in sales-A.Connector Cast #2
Hey everyone. Getting a little more in the rhythm and speaking of rhythm my buddy Moshang(Jean Marais) agreed for me to use his beautiful tune “gentle Beauty” from his Chill Dynasty disk as background music. Moshang and his music deserve your connecting.
Ok back on track. Today’s topic is connecting with people and somewhat emphasizing in sales context. Mst of my life experience is in sales and marketing so that is a filter I know very well. Did I mention that life is sales,and sales is a conversation? 
Big props to one of my mentors Zig Ziglar(please see link on right-hand sidebar).
Please listen and let me know hat you think. Please submit me you ideas on being a “connector.”In audio or text.
Shout out to…
Like to give thanks to 2 friends also involved in new media for giving me some feedback on blog and podcast: Jim Stanger and Jack Hosley. You guys rock-thanks for caring and making me that much better.
Handed a badge of honor?
Well friends your “A.Connector” pal had the distinction of making Amanda Chapel’s list and being “linked by CC Chapman on Managing the Gray on the same day.
The aforementioned “honor” was being called a “Whore of Babel” for affirming that I had no conflict with bloggers taking merchandise or money “with or without conditions” attached as long as they are “transparent” in revealing that any time they write on “topic.” Hmm, now that I think about it, two of my linked new media connectors were also “listed” CC & Eric Rice. In my comment I cited another “connector” Dave Slusher. Dave once commented in his podcast, “I don’t believe there is such a thing as “selling out” that anyone should be ashamed for taking money or getting sponsored in their new media work, I only believe that you can sell too cheaply.” Wise words from a wise guy, er… man.
Think about that-reality check time friends! What is a fair price to you? What will make you smile. Maybe not smile for a lifetime (of course the bigger the smile the better), but in essence what can you accept? This answer and number are different for every individual.
One of the things I love about new media is that there is no rule book. We are writing as we do it and in this wikipedia age we live in, it’s gonna change again and again until the new “mediaists” of any given time are happy with it (meaning it will be edited forever
OK, now I’m kind of fired up about this so I’m gonna tell you a funny story that occurred in Taiwan. I’ve been living and doing business here in Taiwan for some time. Most of that time on a “resident visa.” This visa allows me to stay within Taiwan for a given period without “having” to leave the country.
The rules governing this type of visa changed about a dozen times in as many years which was very confusing and disruptive, not in a good Seth Godin Purple Cow kind of way. There was one time where they changed the rules, didn’t publicize that and didn’t remind you when you showed up for visa renewal.
My family and I including my youngest child Kevin(who was still a small toddler at the time) went to the US and returned to Taiwan only to find out there was a visa “issue.” We asked the government official at the airport what could be done and we followed his instructions.
The following year when we went to renew the visa again, “boom” a major storm cloud came in and settled over my head. The police official(at that time resident visas were administered by the police dept. then) gave me rash of “you did this and shouldn’t that’s” until finally it came down to the final scene. Are you thinking “High Noon” or any other good western with the gunfighters squaring off at 20 paces?
What took me over the edge or to my “tipping point” if you will was this comment, “You know, it’s no joke if you’re working here in Taiwan without a work visa.” You see technically he was right if you go by law, but in truth no self-respecting Taiwanese man would allow the law to get in his way of doing the right thing by his family. So I looked him right in the eye while holding my young son in my arms (he was the top dog of the foreign affairs police office mind you) and said to him , “I’m “not working” I’m just helping my wife taking care of the baby. She is working!”
OK, so I got long-winded here to make my point, but the point stands. Where do people get off being so holier than thou when someone has a chance to make an honest buck or in this case try out a piece of nice “gear porn”? I hear echoes of Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman’s as Colonel Slade with his righteous indignation soliloquy, “Baird man, Baird man, Baird Bums more like it.”
Moral of the story-Don’t let the “Baird Bums” dictate to you what you do and how you live your life if your conscience and common sense tell you that you are within the bounds of reason. Baird Bums don’t like “connectors.” They are disruptor’s of the bad kind, they love privilege and exclusion and hide behind thick “walls” of artifice. Hope to persuade, but learn when to evade.
Update: CC chimes in with some words about being called a “Ho.” He does good job of putting whole issue into perspective here.
Evo Terra-Connecting
Ok, Evo was the first to drink the Kool-aid. I know Evo from listening to my Getting a Leg Up music podcast. His audio stream on being a connector is posted here independent of podcast inclusion, just so you can get an idea for what I’m asking you all to do. You don’t need to say what he said, or like he said it. You “own” it. You give voice to it!
