This is no new realization, is it? Social media experts consistently urge users to concentrate on content. Adoration of the new medium lasts only so long. In fact, that message itself has become stale. Plenty of social media experts are still droning on about the need to offer valuable content. Let’s move past that and consider it as understood. Everyone knows that outreach has to possess worth for the audience — a modicum of insight, direction to deeper content, newsworthy specifics, etc.

The next hurdle? Making it a habit. That’s something we’ve helped a few clients with of late, and we’ll be discussing further in the near future.

In the meantime, let’s give Neal and Del some love.

So here’s the plan: Michael Granetz, our intrepid founder and CEO, will be heading down to Charlotte for a few months to get things underway. All you South Riding golf buddies can stop sobbing; Mike will be back regularly, meeting with clients and schooling you on the links. We have to remind him that accumulated frequent flyer miles can’t be used to defray greens fees. Partners Jay Ferrari and Joan Latta-Fernandez will keep things under control back at home base.

The expansion is underway and should be established by the end of the summer. See you down in Charlotte!

His company is working to position at least part of its operations as a being able to help with environmental recovery efforts. This means more than just proclaiming the ability to tow oil booms or deliver straw bales. Experts are speculating the oil will be visible for the next decade, and will impact the Gulf ecosystem for the next century. Almost any major company that can put boats in the water is eager to help with cleanup, and many have launched rapid branding efforts to sell their services. This involves new messaging, revised web content, new collateral, even new identity development as companies create separate divisions dedicated exclusively to the recovery efforts.

The initiatives and intent are laudable. In many ways, they are also essential. The very livelihood of these companies has been covered by a layer of petroleum. Commercial fishing, recreational charters, and dozens of similar industries are being forced to adapt. The ones who can distinguish themselves quickly stand a better chance of landing a business-saving contract. It’s an unfortunate reality, but the companies quick to accept it and address it will be the ones most likely to remain in business.

To learn how you can help with the Oil Disaster Recovery, visit the National Park Foundation website.

Fast, good and cheap? Sounds like an ideal circumstance for any project, but there’s a catch. You can only have two.

Here’s how it works:

• If you want something good and cheap, it’s not going to be fast.
• If you want something fast and good, it’s not going to be cheap.
• If you want something cheap and fast, it’s not going to be good.

That last point can be a killer. We know all about light-speed turnaround and can can punch out stuff of pretty consistent quality, often in less than a week. It’s not our favorite M.O., but it can be done. That said, if you want to make sure you get work that meets your expectations and respects your budget, try to account for that all-important lead time. It gives everyone breathing room, keeps the “Murphy Factor” to a minimum, and saves you stress and expense.

Of course, if it’s an emergency, we’ll work all hours of the night to get something done. Just don’t be surprised when you see a line item for Red Bull.

With that, here’s a shameless re-direct to a great post by one of our favorite gurus, ValMal over at Conversation Agent:

100 Thoughts on Social Media

Five favorites:

1. make the content rock (or at least swing)
2. participate sincerely, and not to brown nose (does this count?)
3. stay offline when you’re tired or argumentative (see explanation above, gotta problem w/ that?)
4. make your writing a work of art (personal favorite, JF)
5. appreciate success is several years in the making (man, are we learning that)

More soon!

But there’s still something that’s going to knock it on its heels: Reality.

Earlier this week, Mike enjoyed the privilege of participating in Social Media Strategy, an interactive panel session hosted by Business Innovation Growth in Charlotte, NC. It was a full afternoon of conversation, questions and answers regarding the effectiveness of social media in both B2B and B2C contexts. And like so many of these exchanges, it took place (irony alert) in real time, in the real world — with cocktails afterward.

One of the most important realizations resulting from our participation in that panel was that there’s no need to beat the death out of the “social media buy-in” message. Self-proclaimed experts hell bent on simply describing social media benefits are a few spaces back on the board; most companies are at the “ok, enough people are doing it – I want to do it too” phase. The challenge now is that getting started is still overwhelming to them.

Rest easy. If you have any appreciation for marketing, you’re already on board. Social media effectiveness is built on basic marketing principles: company buy-in, clear program objectives, ongoing testing, analysis and improvement. These apply regardless of media.

The best way to start a social media effort? Start a social media effort. Pick a point, choose a goal, and commit to the channel. Don’t treat it as a the holy grail. Instead, think of it as another outlet that deserves the same respect as advertising, PR, traditional web presence, broadcast, print, etc.

Of course, don’t forget what we learned by simply showing up: information sharing, thought leadership, and business interaction is sometimes best facilitated by smiles, handshakes, and the actual exchange of business cards. Mike left Charlotte with new friends, a fresh perspective, and several valuable points of contact from which our business will inevitably benefit.

And that, perhaps, is part of it’s challenge.

What organization in its right mind doesn’t appreciate the help of unpaid people passionate about the cause? We don’t merely welcome the idea — we do our best to let it climb right in bed and cozy up with us. The trouble is that volunteers tend to be people with a million commitments and obligations: careers, family, other interests. Nine out of ten are happy to show up and help in any way possible — from sweeping the floor to passing out Champagne. But the volunteers you need to be wary of are the folks with highly specialized skills. These are the volunteers who can bring your efforts to a dead stop. They tend to turn around projects you consider critical at their convenience.

We’ve seen this before. Whether it’s a non-profit or small business, somebody knows somebody’s nephew who is a graphic designer or web developer. They promise they can work up a perfect poster or whip the website in to shape and are happy to contribute time. They usually get things off to a good start, but then they do what most busy people who need to pay the bills do — they fade in the stretch.

Part of the reason we were approached by this organization was because, as much as they appreciated the efforts of their more technically minded volunteers, they were suffering from their inability to consistently contribute. The folks running the show have recognized that if they want to get their marketing up to a speed that matches their vision, it’s probably worth a line-item in the annual budget.

We definitely look forward to the chance to work on behalf of the gallery, and understand that non-profits generally don’t have budget to burn. We also appreciate their realization that, as much as they depend on volunteers to support and sustain their organization, they will be well served making a modest investment in a professional firm that can make getting them what they need a top priority.

After reading an article this morning citing 30 standout slideshow examples, and having a quick Twitter tete-a-tete (incongruity noted) with one of our designers revealed genuine concerns about slideshows.

We’re seeing the same syndrome that, just a couple years ago, was generally confined to PowerPoint. People want slides so packed with information that they become unappealing and unreadable. We all know the dangers of PowerPoint abuse. We’ve all fallen asleep to the droning presenter who does little more than read every word on his or her slides. We’ve all grappled with clients who insist every iota of information has to be in the presentation and then wonders why feedback was in the cellar.

Think of slides as flashcards — the old-school animals-and-alphabet ones your nursery school teacher would chant with you morning after morning. One message, one image, now move on. The information sticks because it is the right dose for a typical attention span — and today’s hyper-media audience has an attention span that makes a nursery school student look like a Buddhist monk.

Like the idea of slides for y0ur site build or redesign? Great. Keep content under control. Keep design clean. They’ll get the job done. Load them up like a jitney bus bound for Cartagena and your slides wont be worth . . . well, enough about that.

Featured speakers where a trio of execs and experts from Eloqua, a company that has created a very successful marketing automation platform. PeakTwo founders Mike and Jay cut their online teeth managing targeted online marketing campaigns during the dotcom boom (RIP LifeMinders). It was a meticulous and labor intensive. The intellects at Eloqua have found a way to automate, manage, and refine that process with a level of speed and precision that, frankly, blew our minds a bit. It was like explaining supersonic flight to a couple guys who used to be motorcycle mechanics. Very cool.

What’s the impending impact on today’s marketing efforts? We’re sussing that out for ourselves, but the potential seems massive. Eloqua’s clients can already attest to that. After the presentation, we knocked a couple back with Senior VP Andre Yee, who elaborated on a couple of compelling presentation points. Overall, however, he was emphatic about the mission of marketing:

It’s about revenue, and that there is a direct correlation between effective marketing automation and good ol’ profit. In so many words, he explained the critical importance of understanding customers. The right targeting coupled with informed follow up relevant to their initial interactions is almost a lock to generate revenue. It’s not intuition; it’s science, and Eloqua is committed to perfecting the formula. With more than 250 customers having already logged two billion interactions with the software, Eloqua is generating a pretty accurate process for generating revenue within specific industries. Now, it’s poised to really turn it up.

I cite this exchange because I understand how Jules feels upon hearing an especially annoying term again and again. In my case, it’s the use of meaningless market-speak. Brainstorms are rotten with expressions that sound significant, but upon further review mean absolutely nothing. My current favorite is “Best of Breed”, which seemed to be on the outs pre-recession. For some reason, it’s enjoying a comeback and I’m fighting it with every ounce of strength I can muster. What is this, the Westminster Kennel Club? You can’t tell me you’re the best at something and then use some nondescript term with the hope that I don’t scrutinize your assertion. What breed are you talking about? The product itself? Your company’s industry? The micro-niche you’re hoping to fill? Chesapeake Bay Retriever? Meaningless, over-wrought drivel.

We all appreciate the value of concision. We all strive for clarity. But good communication also requires some heavy lifting. Take some bandwidth to explain what it is you mean in plain English. You can’t throw up a smokescreen of corporate-bingo bs and hope we don’t press you for the details.

If your medium doesn’t allow for too much detail, then a key part of your message has to be inviting your audience to follow up for more info. That means prioritizing messaging for your websites, print ads, and collateral — which have a relatively small amount of space. That doesn’t mean devoting that precious real estate to terms so vacuous and vague that they fall apart under just a bit of scrutiny. Give us an essential point. Encourage us to contact or click deeper for more info. It’s okay to ask audiences to work a bit, especially if there’s an informational reward.

Apologies for the rant. I’m in a transitional period and I want to help you.