Social Media Consulting

I was talking with Jeremy the other day, and pointed out some things that he could do to improve his sales process, in his new social media consultancy. I thought I'd turn the question around - if you're a social media consultant, what do you do demonstrate value and/or make the case for hiring/retaining your firm?

Social Ecommerce Planning kit

I met Greg Meany from Optaros at eTail recently. We had a nice chat at an oddly themed luau, completed with full-size roasted pig, in the midst of the Hilton downtown. They've come out with a 2009 Social Ecommerce Planning kit. It shows all the different social enhancements you can make to an ecommerce site, and categorizes them. Definitely worth taking a look at.

Personal branding

Two very different examples of personal branding:

Doug Reinhardt from The Hills (from his personal website) - Yes, yes, I know... Strikingly handsome, athletic, and intelligent, Doug Reinhardt is a gentleman with a strong drive for success in all aspects of his life. His sense of humor is contagious and his charm is breathtaking. Doug has always had strong morals and set his goals early in life.

Nick Stamoulis - sends a weekly email with top news links for SEO and SEM which link through to the blogs his firm, Brick Marketing, maintain about website marketing.

Twin Tech II

I was at Twin Tech II on Thursday night. It was a fun event - lots of tech folks taking over Avenue in DC. Nice pictures by Washingtonian, who sponsored part of the event. Best overview of people attending was by Sashi. Twitter posts/comments. Some notable networking approaches - wearing a Tshirt with your company logo is an excellent conversation starter. Kudos to Justin Thorp of Clearspring. There was a also a sports company that was a partial sponsor, that had Tshirts. Adding a tag line to a name tag stands out - "The PR Guy" Jeff Majka stood out. To Peter Corbett - really well put together.
Updated: Peter, from iStrategy, who organized it has put together a comprehensive list of coverage.

Bill Tancer

Congrats to Bill Tancer. I was on a panel with him about a year ago, and his book, Click: Unexpected Insights for Business has hit the NY Times bestseller list.

Shop.org summit

I put a brief post up on the Shop.org blog with information on where to find the latest news, in addition to the coverage that they'll typically have live-bloggged. Fun to see the latest on Twitter.

Meeting Curtis Stone

The most requested piece of content for this blog. Granted, the same person has requested it multiple times...
5 ways to meet Curtis Stone (this is tongue in cheek):

The Contact us page on CurtisStone.com - you just need a "business enquiry"
CurtisStoneCallMe.com is available. This was tried with Mark Cuban.
Head to South Africa at the end of October.
Frequent grocery stores, hoping the Take Home Chef picks you.
Offer to update his old MySpace page. Or, join his official Myspace page.

Mistargeted Email

Signs that your ability to target emails may be limited (or that you have the worlds most stringent legal department): Morton's $19.78 Prime Sirloin Burger will not be available in Singapore, Hong Kong, or Macau.

Sale on Steak

The economy has affected the restaurants near us in different ways. Today there was the South American themed restaurant that has both subtly raised prices, and shrunk portions -- the "hmm, there are a lot of potatoes and not much chicken in my dish" revelation.
It's been interesting to see how the higher-end steakhouses have dealt with the slumping economy - given the general perception that the prices are both fixed and high. I've seen both Morton's and Fleming try clever end runs around this. Fleming's has something called Memorable Meals, a Filet and Lobster tails combo that I believe is only offered if you're on their email list. Morton's offers their "Steak and Seafood for Two" directly on their website. Both have "extended" their offers through to September 30th, hoping to incent people to dine in the next few weeks. I would imagine the (sweltering) DC summer doesn't lend itself to going out for a huge meal, and this is their attempt to build some demand.
Anyone seen anything similar with higher end stores? I'd be curious how some of the name jewelry stores are approaching the holiday season.

Facebook ads

We've run a really small test Facebook ad campaign for the Discovery Store. In a sign that they might have a few improvements to make, their billing page states: In general, you will be charged once per Facebook billable day. However, we reserve the right to charge you more or less frequently at our discretion. Having lots of small credit card charges is definitely not the way to endear yourself to your advertisers.

Scattered Atoms ?

I've gotten used to seeing LinkedIn ads when I visit the site focused on my declared interests (SEO, online marketing.) I saw the first ad on Facebook for an online marketing consultant, Scattered Atoms. The blogger, Tiran is a Director, Engagement Leader with GE/NBC Universal's Strategic Initiatives & Analysis East coast team. Interesting idea, although it's unclear what he's trying to promote.