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I think I understand the difference between Online Marketing and Social Media… or as someone recently pointed out to me… not Social Media… but Word of Mouth (WOM). I guess we’re finally starting to enforce some nomenclature

Online Marketing which takes traditional marketing but makes it web ready evokes this reaction:

Social Media … or as it’s now being referred to, WOM evokes this reaction:

The difference? One broadcasts, manipulates and parades as butter when we all know it’s a version of. One uses humans, social tools to facilitate and enable… think; community managers, brand evangelists or better yet the public who fall in love with your brand – brand fanatics. Truly – there are people out there with a gift for building, nurturing and growing a community! We’re not saying throw everything else out… we’re saying that if something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right! And getting WOM right as part of your marketing plan is ridiculously powerful.

I remember asking several people who appeared amazing-at-life a few questions including: If you could talk to yourself at 20 yrs of age, what would you say? – one response still rings true: “Buy your weaknesses, sell your strengths!”

If you’re looking to hire some really great and truly social types who absolutely get WOM. You want to chat to Barry Furby of Fresh Resources.

Jan 29th by Shannon

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is a headline that definitely grabbed my attention. Luggage in hand I tore through Dublin airport desperate to pick up the Guardian where I could read the full article on my plane ride home to London. I’m sure I found the last newspaper in all of Dublin with minutes to spare,.. the paper came to me in bits but I was ok with that. I just wanted that part that contained Barbara Ehrenreich’s article on “The bad science that fooled the world”.  This isn’t the Guardian’s version… but it’ll do the trick.

First of all, I friggin love reading work from people who happily set out to challenge the mainstream way of thinking.  I like people who make me think. Barbara is one of those people.

I haven’t quite formulated my opinion yet, but she has made me wonder about several things. Is it possible that the happy happy, positive feel good movement was a major factor in causing this recession? Is it really just an income stream created to help lots of innocent people part with their cash? I think in a way it is of course, but is it to the extent Barbara suggests?

If you can spare the few minutes, check out Barbara’s blog. Part author, part activist and part PhD – she’s worth a skim even if you don’t agree with what she’s sounding off about.

I’m an optimistic realist who sees a lot of merit in reading books from Napolean Hill, Og Mandino, Tony Robbins and even Osho but there’s a difference between embracing a positive outlook vs. allowing positive thinking to become your religion. Right? But the question is …where’s that line? 

 The Secret  was probably one of the greatest marketing campaigns ever. I read the book and even watched the movie…  My thoughts on it all? I buy into the concept but find the content presented in The Secret severely flawed. The Secret however, quickly became a phenomenon. It went mainstream in no time… and not long after that, it evolved into some sort of religion. Hmmm, there’s that R word again… maybe Barbara has a point but maybe it isn’t a mass orchestrated corporate puppet master ordaining it all, maybe it’s those people who flock to quick fixes instead of stopping to ask a few questions along the way.

Jan 07th by Shannon

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