Social Media Moms Afternoon Session – Chris Brogan – DisneySMMoms Liveblog

The Tweeter Sisters are giving away more wallet purses. Winners: Jennifer Leat and Shannan Powell. (Please correct my spelling.) 

 

Introducing Chris Brogan, best-selling author of Trust Agents. (Who also apparently has to pee, according to his tweets.) 

He gave us a Zulu greeting because “hi” is a “meaningless ping.” It means “I see you.” (Wheel of Time fans will recognize that as the Aiel greeting.) 

He’s never seen so many pictures of dessert. I took one and tweeted it… apparently he did, too! Clapping for the Disney cast members. Chris is traveling with his friend Zane. The cast members are human, not just animatronics. That’s why we’re here, for the human experience. Lifestyle bloggers are a saturated niche, by the show of hands. 

He’s apologizing in advance for cursing out of passion, asked religious bloggers to pray for him later. (Much laughter.) 

He’s been spending a lot of time with the Hanes Comfort Crew for the last few days. He just learned about three-way bras. He was confused until they explained about the straps. Hanes and all of these  other brands really want to understand what everything means to us. They want to know what our experience feels like from the user/guest perspective.

For a long time, surveys and focus groups were how things were done, put everyone into buckets. “We are forevermore unbucketed.” Joke related to @unmarketing that I didn’t completely hear either. 

We buy from people we like. This seems so obvious, but it’s not true. We complain a lot. 

Business, relationships, and trust. He’s not going to show us how to use Twitter and Facebook, but he’ll talk about what’s behind it. 

Apparently Chris Brogan’s kids order the same Happy Meal as TJ. Chicken McNuggets, milk, and apple dippers. 

How do we build an audience, get the numbers? It’s relationships. The difference between an audience and a community is the way you point the chairs. That little detail means everything. He will have 2-4 blog posts after this presentation to follow up on what he’s discussed. 

“The customer’s not a moron. She’s your wife.” Don’t treat customers like stupid people. Don’t talk down to people. Treat them with respect. Anecdote about how car salesmen would talk to him about all the technical details, then tell his mom, “And it’s red.” *bristle* 

Listening. Google [grow bigger ears] – how to build your own listening station for free. Where all the cool stuff is happening. Lots of hands for who knows @comcastcares. (Seriously. Every social media presentation I go to.) Cable companies and spouses often hear, “You’re not listening to me!” 

We equate the people who represent the companies in social media with the companies… not the CEOs. Get to know the people from the brands you want to be associated with, to become their trust agents. 

Three different things you do with listening. He’s telling lots of great little ancedotes, but I keep missing the sticking points. I’m going to have to link you to his blog posts later on. Or maybe edit this post or something. Bookmark and check back later! 

We love when companies are nice to our friends. Even better when they’re nice to our kids. When they’re rude to our kids or ignore them… NOT GOOD. 

Chris spends 60% of his Twitter time in search. You need to use Twitter tools like Seesmic or TweetDeck. (But I like the Web interface! I know what you mean, though. Update: I downloaded Seesmic Desktop when I got home from the conference and I love it!) 

Don’t jump on people and scare them in your first social media contact. Gross analogy: when someone extends their hand to shake your hand, don’t lean in and stick your tongue in their mouth. The analogy works because we won’t forget it. Don’t forget to tell the story. 

R&D. Find out what people really want you to do. 

Customer Service. If you don’t think that customer service is the new marketing, “you’re crazy… poo poo heads.” LOL. 

Connecting. The difference between blurting stuff out and connecting with your audience is the difference between theater and theater-in-the-round. 81% of his tweets are @replies. (He’s responded to me as @ChristinaGayle. Wonder if he actually recognizes my name. Probably not.) 

What works on Twitter works face to face. Talk to people, not at them. Twitter is like a phone where everyone is listening in. 

What companies really want from you. Companies don’t really want you to just be a product reviewer. What they really hope for is someone to tell stories in a human, connecting way. Tell your audience the stories that they already wannt to hear. Your community: treat them like gold. Never sell out your community… ever, ever, ever. Sponsors come next, which is  alongside content. Whatever draws people’s attention. Make your community love you. The sponsors want your audience. You are the gatekeeper of that experience. Don’t let the sponsors stick their tongues in your community’s mouth. 

This is SXSW, the media, and magazines. This is how it works. 

Companies want your  community to love them. They also want the best cause marketing in the world, the best yield on showing that they care. “No good deed goes unpunished.” It’s good to be good, but they don’t want to do good things in a vacuum, they want people to know about it. Companies want to increase their revenue. We want to increase our revenue, too. We have to work to give the companies the kind of story that they want in our own unique voice. 

Why fly 100 moms down to Disney, get Joe Jonas down here, etc.? To get us to talk about our experience. Tell our stories. We give them the warm introduction. 

There’s an external perspective about mom bloggers having a sense of entitlement. No one gets sent away from the table for finding new revenue for a company, but there seems to be a double standard when it comes to bloggers. 

How business deals are structured becomes very important. Create a business plan. “I’m not an entrepreneur, I’m just a dude who makes money.” “Entrepreneur is just another way of saying you’re unemployable.” Laughter. Think about contracts, long term projects. Don’t bring a half-idea to the table. People need a beginning, a middle, and an end. We need that in contracts and in business. Start small. They use three-month projects for new clients, and people can buy another project if they like the results. Explain it like you’re talking to a six-year-old; don’t use big words. 

Selling blogging projects is often very kumbaya. It doesn’t matter how many people come through the store, it matters how often the register rings. How do you bring revenue to the companies your work for? Don’t give your work away for free. Don’t trade your work for just free products. You deserve to get paid. Give them new ideas. Marketers are just figuring out how this works just like we are. 

“Little bloggers grow up.” -Liz Strauss 

Don’t worry too much about your numbers. It took 8 years for him to get his first 100 readers. Be helpful to other people. Get your stories tighter. Google [no i don’t sleep]. Add subheadings to your posts. Bullet points. 

“No one walks more than 10 steps away from their cell phones.” 

FTC and disclosure rules. Chris Brogan’s About page has a great disclosure page. Also see cmp.ly. 

Chris Brogan just called me grammar girl for telling him that -ly words were adverbs, not adjectives. I’m bright red now. 

Build love back into your business. 

Tweeter Sisters have more giveaways. More purses: Kim J. and Charisse Kachelman? She didn’t pronounce them very clearly.  Please correct my spelling! Another culinary gift basket: Connie Roberts. 

Disclosure: I paid $350 to attend the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration in Walt Disney World. Included in my conference fee: our room at the Polynesian Resort, Park Hopper tickets, the conference sessions, most of our meals, and a few little extra surprises. That being said, my opinions are my own, and my blogs posts about the experience are my honest opinion.

Christina Gleason (976 Posts)

That’s me: Christina Gleason. I’m a writer, editor, and disability advocate. I'm a multiply disabled autistic lady doing my best in this world built for abled people. I’m a geek for grammar, fantasy, and casual gaming. I hate vegetables. I cannot reliably speak, so I’ll happily conduct business over email or messaging instead.