First we tell 'em, "You gotta have a website"… Then we say, "you gotta keep it fresh"… Then we tell 'em your website sucks… Then we tell them, gotta be ON social, you gotta have a Facebook (page?), Twitter, Pinterest, whats NEXT?… OMG where is your blog? You don't have a blog?. Then we scream, where is your stream? If you're not there... No one will care!

Isn't this just the YELLOW PAGE inbound marketing consultant wet dream sales pitch 5 or 6 generations onward… ?

You gotta have a listing, everyone has a listing…
No one sees your listing, you have to take a quarter…
Your quarter isn't getting noticed, talk to our designer.

Everyone has a quarter, do you want to be an everyone; lets talk about a half.
A half is for the timid, is that how you want to be seen?
Take a page, show 'em you mean business!
Your page isn't being noticed… let's add more color!

The cost of doing business? If you spend it they will come?

I'm not being contrarian here, and I am in total agreement that using these marketing tools, in a fashion that softens up that hardened lead, is essential; honestly… But truly, honestly the buzz and emphasis on content marketing is getting downright worrisome. Of course our clients need to establish a presence in these forums, the arenas, streams, feeds and pin boards… but to what end. Do we really want to see a sea of disappointed, disillusioned business people floating facedown awash in the flotsam and jetsam of long forgotten social media stra… schemes? ( ...sch...rategies that could have worked)

How will they find you?
What do you say?
You got to be on it!
Right now, EVERY day!

They manufacture egg cartons…

Maybe their website really is JUST a static brochure, a leave behind, send to. The place to go if you want to know a little bit more. Maybe they don't need a damned blog; or only just need one to let the CEO wax poetically about the qualities of his business from time to time, add a little persona. Or maybe it's just a forum to let the sales guys hone their pitch from time to time (?) Maybe their Face-twit-pin feeds are paced a few clicks slower than the guy next door, but each post-tweet-pin is that much more, meaningful? Perhaps they should listen to social; a little more' listening to what their customers are saying rather than droning on and drowning oiut the voices of the folks they're listening for?

When seeking to rise above the clutter, does adding to this clutter define a strategy of any real logic?
Who owns the relationship with your customer?
That's for you to answer, but, last I looked… it wasn't the marketing department.

Who's the most social person in your organization? Build your social strategy around… that guy. No?

There's a great social tool out there for organizing and managing one's time/calendar and new-learning budget… Learning at a pace that can be managed is key to "good learning". I call this tool "Other People's Calendar" (OPC). I'm sure I'm not the only one using it; so I'm reaching out for any advice on how I might use it better.

I love a good sales pitch. Some of my best ah-ha moments have come via some sales guy or gal pushing some this or that under my nose at exactly the right time. I have zero problem being pitched at; this wonderful world now provides me insanely useful tools to filter out and file pitches (almost automatically)… 

Now here's the human part....

Let's say perhaps one in a hundred pitches (or less) hit me at that "exactly the right ah-ha moment"; another 56, 60, 70 are irrelevant and are immediately chucked into the cold as cold can get cold storage locker… the others; I rely on OPC. If you've ever pitched to me, (pitched me something that make my eyes sparkle) you likely have received one of the following replies:

• Cool, please set up a meeting
• I really like this, but now is not the time, put me in your rotation
• I really like this, but can't see a use at this time
        ...(or variations on the theme)

PLEASE, Sales guy! …live up to my expectation that you've been given use of one of the many good sales tools out there. Trust my honesty; IF you've not been filtered, please follow my instruction and put me on YOUR calendar for reconnection, I AM RELYING ON YOU. I may not be your hottest lead, but if you remind me to have… that, "another look", I likely will. You know, even better, remind me that I reminded you to remind me; contextual "touch 'n tag back" is a very powerful persuader.

NOW… if you get no reply, assume that chill you're feeling IS indeed the high powered refrigeration unit firing up in my coldest of cold storage locker, BUT don't give up. Keep trying… you never ever know, AND I never ever know when I might just start hankering for something I wasn't hankering for today.

I (heart) salespeople!!! <-- It's true.
(who else is gonna go out there and find me all this cool Schtuff!)

So, here's the little "in progress" mid-streamer update on this "wish it were more of a" side, be less of a shitty twitter'er - project.

"You got to get to 10,000 followers :)" 
-signed (txt'ed) from a trusted, supremely talented and accomplished business man; a mentor and life long friend of mine.

Anxiety? How could a number-junkie excel-addict not be anxious over… his number?

So, you see… regardless of how well intended we are in expressing this, "it's all about engagement", the importance, our K-redability et al appears to be established almost solely by, that damned NUMBER. It would seem even the brightest among us eventually easy-out and focus on that one damned NUMBER, how many? How many friends does he have; how many connections. How many likes has he collected, how many followers… It's the easy damned NUMBER, the number that's not all that easy to achieve now that billions are seeking it.

For sure… I could simply go out and buy 5, 10, 15… 30,000 Russians and simply to put a big fat (K=1,000 times X) in my followers count. It wouldn't even be cheating, might have an upside, but it would be completely counter to the spirit of my mantra, "it's simple, not easy". You see, I hold the word "simple" far too dearly to waste it trying to make something, easier. Slog-on and enjoy, the slog I say.

By way of a quick and dastardly, backhanded aside; funny how nature dictates the loudest of those touting "its all about the engagement" are those with the biggest NUMBERs...

The NUMBER vs. the ENGAGEMENTs

The stated objective of this little project being... push this channel until I reach 2,000 was set, more to establish a time line rather than to seek the NUMBER itself. SO yes, I'm driven to reach this number. Driven, primarily as I'd rather finish this off and focus on other things. How's it going? Well, it's going brilliantly actually; and here's why...

1) I've met the collolry objective of "dusting" off the tools in the old toolbox, and have given myself the good reason to explore new ones...

2) focussing on engagement in pursuit of the NUMBER has actually lead to near a dozen or so fair engagements and one true assignment; I'll nurture the former and pursue the latter with vigour 

3) eh… the number is going up, weee! (I am a number-junkie after all, and as such, I enjoy counting by ones as much as 5s, 10s and 100Ks)

...here are some additional spin-offs.… ON K-redibility. 

Funny how we're responding to Klout & Kred scores. These number are likely more important than, the count, the number itself - Yet we all publicly cringe at the mere mention of these scores, hide and/or hold them close. Is it modesty or is it simply we don't understand, trust or are just plain old ashamed of what we may have had to do to grow them? (More thinking on this K-redibility, is, in the works).

As a another spin-off benefit to this "it's not about the numbers" be less a shitty twitter'er project; my Klout and Kreds are going uppity-up. I guess that's only a good thing right. Maybe even more of a good thing when I'm actually allowed to wave 'em around, tattoo 'em on my resume and/or paste them to the footer of my "not a blog", site… whatever.

I am certainly suspicious of the weighting both these scoring tools, in so much as my K-redibility scores have gone UP while I've been focussing almost exclusively on Twitter,at the expense of being formerly far more active on Facebook and Linkedin (I need interns! and not just for typos, spelling and grammer). 

…and then, there are a few unexpected spin-offs by way of: Pinterest & Instagram (which, I'll get to later)

-------------------------
This is just a mid-streamer… In the original post, I mentioned my hope in my having my ah-ha moment, haven't yet. I'm simply suspending my mis-beliefs again; diving back into where I shouldn't have slinked out of; holding my nose and taking on this Twittering with a little more vigour and a, let's call it a renewed, bight and shiny attitude. I've reminded myself of how it's to be used. Re-learning can be as rewarding as learning after all. That said, sure I'm dusting off the old tools, but… indeed I've found some new ones too.

…and there'll be a lot more about this and that when I finally hit that 1/5th fraction of the damned NUMBER (my good friend) wants to see at the wrap of this adventure. (10,000/5 = yup, 2,000)

AND so... (my friends): If the sheer volume of my posts are annoying you… simply, work your lists better (I know, its not easy).

Update: March 8th (International Women's Day)... I now find myself at that awkward moment where I cannot follow all those I would like as I need keep room for following those who choose to follow... No worries, I've put you on a list; I'll get to following you again once I break free of these Twitter limitations.