Saturday. The Hampton Inn. Langley, BC (Metro Vancouver) Canada. Our first Meetup – and the official launch of our 90-day Social Media Challenge. A full house, despite the warm and sunny weather. And Shane Gibson (co-author of the social media tome, ‘Sociable!’) entertained, educated and inspired us. Perfect. And now it’s Day One of the campaign itself. So, what do we do?
Well, as you know, the idea is to use social media in every way we can to answer the question: ‘Can social media work for business?’ So. Did our first activity – holding Saturday’s Meetup – do anything for business? Yes (in a small way) it did. Shane brought a small stock of books, and sold out within seconds. And we had a number of new members sign on to Marketing Dangerously (yes, basic membership is free of charge, but a percentage of basic members become paying customers when they purchase my book, or one of our other business coaching products, from our store).
> The Risk:
When we planned the challenge, several ‘late adopters’ in our network warned that we could waste a lot of time and money on this – and that we’d be wiser to invest in traditional marketing. I don’t agree. I think this internet thing is here to stay – and that social media is ‘the’ way of the future in marketing. We’ll see.
> The Reward:
On a personal level, one great reward is that I will become functionally literate in social media technology in just three months. Get ready to participate in my podcasts, for example, and our GuruViews – our interviews with thought leaders in social media, using Skype. And more!
> The Call to Action:
We will post a brief progress report each day. And then challenge you to one simple task each day. Our goal, of course, is not only to make ourselves social media literate, but to help you take the plunge (or dive deeper) as well. Ready? Here we go.
——————————————————————————————————————————Day 1: The Marketing Dangerously Social Media Challenge.
Challenge #1: Join a Meetup Group.
What? Meetup is an online service that helps groups of people with shared interests plan meetings and form offline clubs in local communities around the world.
Why? Your customers belong to what we call ‘affinity networks’ of different kinds – industry associations, for example, where you can join as an associate member and mingle with your customers and their colleagues. Meetup groups offer similar opportunities. We think Meetup is the epitome of social media, because groups meet ‘live’ and in person, as well as on line (what a concept). Most groups feature free membership. Some hold paid events. And, of course, you are welcome to form your own group.
How? Let’s say you own a bicycle shop in Vancouver. And let’s say you want to mix and mingle with recreational cyclists. Okay. Visit Meetup and search for ‘cyclists’ and enter your postal code. There. You can join The Vancouver Bicycling Meetup Group. With 468 members. Or several others. Just like that.
Tipzntrix: No. The idea is not to join and then start pitching your business. The idea is to participate. This is ‘social’ media, not ‘sales’ media. That’s why so many business people still think it’s a waste of time. But think about it. If you participate; offer great advice; organize rides that start and end at your store, offer prizes, etc. etc., are you going to do business? We think so.
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A special request: We need your story. If you use social media in any way to build your business, send an email to ndgodin@shaw.ca, with the details – or provide your telephone number, and I will call you for details.A special thank you: We will offer a copy of my ebook, ‘How to Start Your Economic Recovery – Right Now!’ for every idea submitted – whether we publish the idea or not. Come on. Get those cards and letters coming. Oops. That’s old media isn’t it? See you tomorrow.
Neil Godin
Please share your idea, comment or request in the space below! [3 responses]
1 Sue Nelson Buckley // May 11, 2010 at 7:50 pm
Meet Up is very useful for networking.
As Neil introduced himself to me on Saturday he asked how I found out about the event. He was very pleased to learn that not only had I joined through Meet Up but that I was notified about the event automatically by the Meet Up website.
For anyone who isn’t aware, when you fill out your Meet Up profile, you have the opportunity to identify your interests. This enables you to be notified if a new group in one of these topic areas is initiated near you. It’s very convenient.
In my case I have Social Media indicated on my areas of interest and voila, Neil’s Meet Up notification arrived in my mailbox shortly after the group was created.
I would have missed it otherwise.
2 Neil Godin // May 13, 2010 at 8:04 pm
We’re getting great feedback on the social media challenge — but it’s coming to us via email. Can we ask you to post your comments right here at the blog? That way your thoughts and ideas can be shared with our entire network. Thank you !
Neil
3 Heather Stewart // Oct 22, 2010 at 9:27 pm
After receiving a few of your email newsletters with later posts in the social media challenge, I’ve finally taken a moment to look back to the beginning of the challenge.
What a great way to introduce others to social media, one approachable challenge at a time.
I applaud your campaign!
Everyone I know is getting tired of hearing about my twitter evangelism, but I get so much satisfaction out of helping entrepreneurs not only get set up on twitter, but also thinking about their strategies for social media.
kudos!
@hshomestaging
Langley BC
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