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Connections Creating Opportunities

Connecting Social Communities FTW - Personal Case Study and 10 Tips

Rachel_boty

In December last year, my daughter Rachel asked for my help to win a Bride of the Year Facebook contest that required entrants to have their particular picture LIKED on the contest page. As a connector who often gets asked what possible benefit there is in having so many Facebook friends (currently 4,500), Twitter followers (currently 36,000) and Linkedin connections (currently 26,000), I took on the challenge to apply my marketing experience to prove that if utilised effectively, you can derive a benefit from connecting a social community - for the win (FTW).

As you can see from the picture, Rachel won the contest. Her winning picture generated 1,657 likes, taking out the grand prize of an all expenses paid trip to Australia's Hamilton Island for two. She won as a result of a carefully managed marketing campaign that connected individuals in various social communities to take an action that resulted in her win. This isn't the story of the campaign - a good cook doesn't reveal his full recipe. It does provide some tips as to how to connect social communities to achieve a desired result which I hope you find useful!

1. Understand the RULES and OUTCOMES.

The contest rules as defined by MMG Photo + Cinema were very clear: Eligible brides were asked to post a photo on their Facebook contest page. Whoever got more recorded "likes" than all other entrants legitimately by midnight 31st December 2011 would be the winner. The marketing challenge was to get more likes on Rachel's picture than all other 45+ competitive contestant brides in 4 short weeks in December, ensuring her picture was in a winning position a few hours before the contest close time. 

The RULES were very clear. The OUTCOME was simple: She had to win.    
 

2. Consult the PRACTITIONERS (People in the KNOW, not necessarily the "experts)

As much as you think you might know about social media and communities (myself included), I asked for the advice of some the smartest people who plan, play and experiment in social media. I'm not talking about the people who talk the theory. I'm referring to the people who practice what they preach - daily. I got some great advice and support from Mahei Foliaki, Michael Todd, Keith Keller and Annalisa Holmes. These folks are in the social game every day and provided reality checks that I was grateful to be able to cash. 

3. Marshall your COMMUNITY.

The people who want to assist you directly are usually those close to you - family and good friends - so start compiling that list first. Next are people you relate to regularly - work colleagues and good acquaintances - they may not 'know' you well but they may be willing to take an easy action such as liking a Facebook photo due to your connection. Thirdly, there are interest groups who you have some connection with - school, church, university, clubs, etc - again, if the request is simple and easy, they're likely to support.  

Finally, always apply network theory by asking every simple person to SHARE the request with their own connections at the same time you ask them to take an action. If the action is simple, they'll be more willing to ask their friends to maximise the reach of the request. 

4. Make task easy - LIKE in 2 clicks

The easier the better. The request sent to various individuals and groups was to LIKE Rachel's posted competition picture. The first step was to click on a link to the photo and once there, to click LIKE on her photo - easy as. To make it easier, the request was usually done on Facebook, the platform they were already on. I found it harder to post as links on other social platforms like Twitter, Google+ and Linkedin as they had to switch what they were doing. However, it didn't stop us posting there too!  

5. Ask nicely ... and personally.

I sent a direct Facebook message to many of my Facebook connections as did Rachel. I messaged around 20 connections at a time and sometimes a few more, using their first names in every case. I preferred Facebook messages as it was more personal and direct. Those who chose to opt-out by leaving the message conversation made it easier to send follow-ups to later and prevent potential accusations of spamming. The message was simple and included a direct link:

I hope this short message finds you well. I need a small favour. My beautiful daughter Rachel is getting married next year. She is in a Facebook contest to win a holiday on Australia's Hamilton island for her honeymoon in a contest that ends on 31st December 2011. Can I please ask for your support to "LIKE" her photo via the link below and SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS. She promises to post photos of her trip if she wins!  http://t.co/eeXivJxf Cheers and happy holidays, Iggy Pintado 

I was ably supported by the communities of supporters like Tessa Gutierez, Mark Simmering and 124 others who shared my message as a Facebook post. 

6. Monitor performance along the way.

I monitored Rachel's progress daily from day one and hourly in the last 24 hours. When the LIKE rate started to slow down, I would send a mix of follow-up messages and interest group posts to get it moving again. As the contest was open to people in other countries, I sent messages to connections in their time zones to maximise their views of the messages. Also, it was important to avoid holiday dates like Christmas and Boxing Day as there was minimal social activity during these times.

In doing so, Rachel jumped from 31st place in the first week of the contest to 9th place by the start of the third week. She was in the top 5 with a week to go and hit the lead two days before the contest end time. 

7. Get ready for plot twists.

The contest organisers were also clear that they could change the rules along the way. With two weeks to go, they culled the number of contestants to the top 10. In another twist, they allowed 35+ brides who didn't make the final cut to allocate their LIKES to anyone in the top 10. Fortunately, Rachel was always pleasant and friendly with all the contestants throughout. It helped that she LIKED all the other contestants pictures and added them as friends on Facebook prior to their elimination. The plan now called for a closer monitoring of LIKE allocations by the other contestants and the real possibility of having to get more LIKES than planned.

8. Keep an eye on the competition (but don't let it obsess you)

Due to the plot twist, closer monitoring of the final 10 competitors was required. In week three, I started a simple spreadsheet recording LIKES every few hours by finalists PLUS allocations from the other 35+ brides. By tracking performance, you could assess what tactics they were using via comments left on their posts.  

9. Stay awake until the very end.

The contest deadline was midnight on 31st December 2011, New Years Eve. Although there was little one could do if there were any massive LIKES or LIKE allocations made in the last few hours, there were some tactics planned as contingencies just in case. It's a little like watching final bidding on an eBay item - you must watch until the very end. 

10. Say THANK YOU.

The day after she won the contest (New Years Day), I personally messaged all the people I knew who LIKED her photo. I posted my thanks on all my social platforms to maximise the message. I re-posted her thank you picture at the top of this post. So many people were grateful for the thanks and delighted by the part they played in being part of the success. 

So again, I'd like to thank EVERY ONE of the 1,657 people who took the time to be part of Rachel's success and for validating that you can connect social communities for benefit.

Follow My Lead - Guest Post by Carol Quinn

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I met Carol Quinn on Twitter two years ago. She is a cross-platform strategic planner and author of the book 

Follow My Lead . 

She is the former SVP of Marketing/Creative Director for entertainment advertising agency Air Creative Group  and co-founder of Angel Entertainment, a new media group involved in content creation for television, gaming, and publishing. As an advertising executive and creative director, Carol created television, radio, print and online campaigns for CBS Television, Paramount Television, Warner Bros. Online, Radio Disney, Disney Channel and has worked with numerous new media digital startups. 

She graciously agreed to guest blog about what she's learned about leadership here. 

You’d think that by the title of my book, I know something about leadership.  But if you read it, you’ll quickly see that the story is a process of becoming a leader—not of my dogs or in my professional life or even in my family - but of myself.

To become my own leader, I first had to fully understand who I was, and what I was capable of. This may seem like an easy task, but in my case, I’d spent a good deal of my personal life trying hard to fit in with situations or relationships that didn’t dovetail with my nature. Like assigning an artistic task to a computer scientist or a job that requires fine motor skills to a guy who wields a sledgehammer for a living, I consistently placed myself in conflict.

Why? The simple answer is, I like a challenge. The more complex answer has to do with my personal beliefs about perfecting myself, striving to be better, kinder, wiser, and more creative. My theory was that conflict created the right condition for me to grow stronger.

It turns out, I was very wrong about this theory of mine.  As I trained my two Rhodesian Ridgebacks in dog agility, it was immediately apparent to me that dogs succeed in tasks when they are happy, and rewarded - and when the tasks suit their nature and physical capabilities. As my trainer once said, “You can’t ask a small dog with short legs to take a high jump. He’ll just get frustrated.”

And you can’t ask a hot-headed, emotional person to behave analytically nor can you demand that a shy person become loud and bubbly.  We are who we are.

Understanding my own limitations was liberating; I finally let go of an unhappy love relationship, and discovered a new appreciation of my leadership skills, and an ability to find - and embrace - happiness. It sounds simple, but believe me, it wasn’t.

If you’d like to read the book hardcopy or via Kindle, you can order it on Amazon ... and here’s the video/trailer on YouTube for those of you who are more visual :)

And one last burning question: Have any of you struggled with facing the facts about your own nature and talents? Leave a comment below.

Tweet-Ups live on at #NewcastleCoffee Mornings

I attended my last tweet-up coffee morning in late 2010 because frankly, I thought no one attended them anymore. 

Tweet-ups or coffee mornings are face-to- face social gatherings of people on twitter usually within a close geographical area so they can meet each other in person. When I found out that the coffee mornings in the city of Newcastle, Australia were still on I decided to test my view that these gatherings had become "tweet-beens" (couldn't resist). Although I live a good two hours by car, I decided to make the drive on the morning of Christmas Eve 2011 to the Coffee on Crown venue.

I arrived at 730am and met Gordon Whitehead and Brendan Brooks to start. Then the others arrived, including local twitter legends Craig "Mediahunter" Wilson and Lindy Asimus. I also met some new tweeps that I hadn't connected with before. As more people rolled in, one of the attendees brought out a guitar, and there was music amongst the chatting and revelry. The short video captures 30 seconds of what went on for the 90 minutes I was there.

So why are Newcastle Coffee mornings still functional where others have failed? Three insights I got in the short time I was there:

1. Value - people attend because they get value from chatting, sharing and catching up with others in the community with no agendas.
2. Commitment - they agree to meet before work (730am) on a Friday. They have a community of around 50 people and a core of 10 who commit to attend regularly.
3. Communal Interest - they are a community that are genuinely interested in social media, business and the group.

I'd like to thank the Newcastle Coffee crew for their hospitality. If you happen to be near Newcastle on a Friday morning, check out the hashtag #newcastlecoffee on twitter for details.

Meet "United Breaks Guitars" legend Dave Carroll on #RealTweeple


I had the distinct pleasure of meeting social innovator and musician Dave Carroll at an IT industry event in Melbourne recently. Dave's claim to fame - apart from being a great musician - is for a famous incident in 2009 involving United Airlines and his Guitar. I took a photo with him and he graciously decided to appear on my Realtweeple series, a set of 30 second videos on my ConnectGen Youtube channel introducing Twitter people I've met in person to my network.

In summary, the story is that United Airlines breaks his guitar on a routine flight, he gets zero customer service attention, he counters by recording and posting a protest song on Youtube called "United Breaks Guitars", gets over 10 million views and estimates say that United's share price dropped and lost millions in revenue as a result of the adverse publicity.

Hearing him tell the story LIVE was very impactful. It's a reminder to all businesses that a single voice in an increasingly connected world can make a difference. For me, it was a compelling reminder to LISTEN intently online and be PREPARED to respond appropriately.

How are you listening and preparing online? Comments appreciated.

Au Revoir to One of My Favourite #RealTweeple - Kristin Rohan

Fond farewell to Kristin Rohan who departs for California this week. She leaves us from her stay in Sydney with some great chats, times and insights.

As I've said before, if people are like flowers, it was a pleasure walking in her garden, even for a short while.

We will stay connected thanks to the social web but for now - au revoir, Kristin and all the very best to you and family!

Connecting the Past through Giving - Sharpe's Children Foundation

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I asked my friend, Lorna McKenzie, who among other interests is the @VintageTailor on Twitter to guest post on my blog about The Sharpe's Children Foundation and the Sharpe's Australia March.

What's The Sharpe's Children Foundation all about?

We are a group of Australian historical Napoleonic and British reenactors who are trying to make a difference. While filming the Sharpe TV series over a seventeen year time span at various locations in Portugal, Ukraine, Crimea, Turkey and India, the actors of Sharpe witnessed many atrocities against children. Actors witnessed little children living in the gutters of Jaipur and Jodpur in Rajasthan and on the streets of Khajuraho in the state of Madhya Pradesh, living in the most horrific circumstances. The impact of this human devastation resulted in the actor's establishing The Sharpe’s Children Foundation.

 

What's Sharpe's Australia March then?

Sharpe's March Australia is a three-day walk to raise money for The Sharpe's Children Foundation, UK. We will march in full Regency dress through the back hills of Canberra over the 15-17 July. We need your donations, our goal is to raise a A$1000, and we hope that you will help us achieve that and more! You can donate to the Sharpe's March Australia, through JustGiving http://www.justgiving.com/Lorna-McKenzie. This is a UK donation site for authorised UK charities and all your money will go directly to the charity with no middleman intervening and skimming any of it. 

So please dig deep because your money will ensure a better future for kids and young people in the third world. You can contact us for more information through Sharpe's March Australia Facebook Event page https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=131926643550443 or via Twitter.

Lorna McKenzie

Remember Comic Books? They're Back on Cloud 9

I met Praz Hari and Ben Slabak recently who told me about their dream of reviving comic
books. They graciously accepted my invitation to guest post on my blog. Here's their story:  

We all love comic books. From the Marvel giants to DC superheroes.
But comic books have now gone beyond just superheroes and have really
become a gateway for mainstream pop-culture, cinema and entertainment.

Like all industries, the comic book industry too is going through an
evolution with the digital boom. However, not many people in Australia
or globally for that matter - are aware that Australia has it's own first Digital Comic Book
publisher for the iPad, iPad 2, Android, and Kindle...Cloud 9 Comix (watch out Marvel).

So who are Cloud 9 Comix?

Cloud 9 Comix is the digital publishing arm of Spectrum Pacific
Publishing, founded by Ben Slabak in 1996. Spectrum Pacific was originally
a computer games development/publishing company. They first 

entered the comic book publishing in 2002 with Italian Fumetti titles 
and the  digital publishing in 2010 starting with the iPad
(and yes the app is free to download).

There are over 170 titles from all 6 continents, including from Australia,
US, England, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Croatia, Italy, France, Norway,
Argentina, Colombia and others.

The core focus for Cloud 9 is on new and unique titles, independent
authors, and also some old classics. Cloud 9 believes in empowering the
independent, creative entrepreneurial artists and studios globally. As well as of course creating some awesome comic book titles for kids and adults.

For all your iPad and comic book lovers, if you download the app and take
a photo of yourself with one of the titles from Cloud 9 Comix and post it
on the Cloud 9 Comix Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/Cloud9Comix)
you could win 1 of 3 iTunes vouchers to buy more comics.

Ben Slabak and Praz Hari

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cloud-9-Comix/104530882945783

"Mr. Presentations" Lee Featherby

Recently, I had to give a presentation in seven locations around Australia to over 1,000 audience members in the finance industry. The subject was about the power of online networking using connection technologies such as social media, blogging and mobile devices. It had to be impactful enough to capture their attention, compelling enough to hold their interest for the duration of the speech and impressive enough for them to take some action afterwards. The action was to get the audience members to either consider - or in some cases, reconsider - using Linkedin as an online networking tool.

I hired Lee Featherby from PowerfulPoints to assist me in developing the presentation. 

 Apart from many positive comments from attendees afterwards, I achieved my goal of receiving over 300 invitations to connect with me on Linkedin from attendees. 

It's no wonder they call him "Mr. Presentations". 

#REELPEOPLE #23 - Nancy Lucich & Maryanne - Thalassaemia Society of NSW

Recently, I was invited to attend an event in Sydney, Australia to raise awareness for rare diseases. I met some wonderful people including Nancy and Maryanne from the Thalassaemia Society of New South Wales (NSW)

What's Thalassaemia? Nancy explains it in the video.

If you're in Sydney on 6th May 2011, you can support International Thalassaemia Day Event at VIVO Cafe

You can also find out more about the Thalassaemia Society of NSW on their website.

Out of @theashes comes opportunity

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You don't need to be into the game of cricket to appreciate this connection story. 

For more than 100 years, the English and Australian cricket teams have been battling each other for cricketing supremacy for a small trophy called the Ashes. When the recent series began, the person who owned the twitter name @theashes had no idea about the game or it's rich tradition. In this guest post, I'll let LJ LOCH tell the rest of the story:

I’m lucky enough to have had Connection Maestro Iggy ask me for a behind the scenes piece on @theashes. No, not the cricket game (although that played a big part) but the story of the 22 year old Massachusetts nanny, Ashley Kerekes who, thanks to an inadvertently clever twitter name, @theashes -  and some strategic support -  found herself in cricket – and twitter – heaven!

It started when Ashley became the unwitting recipient of thousands of tweets from cricket fans during the First Test. Off the back of her response of “I’m not a freaking cricket match”,  Melbourne based journalist Marcus Westbury and writer Mike Stuchbery started an online conversation #gettheashestotheashes on twitter and that’s when we knew this was gold.

By working around the clock with the tweet centre at social media specialists www.onesmallplanet.com.au we knew we could, and would, create a real life, tangible example of the power of social media and of its interplay with traditional media.  We contacted Ashley and worked with her to ensure she was making the most of the media and global interest, with each interview and tweet building her story, rather than just repeating it.  We knew which corporates we wanted to target, so were conscious of making sure her tweets started to paint a picture which would justify their involvement.  And, we knew we wanted to do what we could to achieve something positive. So, what started as a bit of fun, rapidly became a full-on campaign.

REPUBLIC does a lot of work in the travel and corporate sectors. We engaged with Qantas, Travelscene American Express and Vodafone to spark and sustain online dialogue around turning #gettheashestotheashes into a reality.  The transition to #teachtheashestheashes sustained the dialogue, with some genuinely funny questions and answers between @theashes, cricket and non-cricket fans around the world. 

The REPUBLIC team channelled the flurryi of global media interest across Australia, the UK, the US, India and South Africa, co-ordinating live cross after live cross, managing to slot the interview requests into the very limited time slots Ashley had due to the time difference and the pressures of looking after two very lively young boys.  Little by little, we allowed the story to evolve as @theashes bewilderment turned to understanding and then enthusiasm for cricket and for promoting a number of great causes including the McGrath Foundation.

During her Australian visit,  she was the guest of one of Australia’s greatest cricketers, Steve Waugh, sitting between former captain and fellow legend Glenn McGrath, and behind actor Eric Bana, and cricket-mad former Prime Minister John Howard.  On Day 3, she interviewed Prime Minister Julia Gillard in the middle of SCG, before attending the Jane McGrath High Tea.  Steve Waugh gave her a personal tour of the SCG Museum, pointing out the fading kangaroo on his baggy green cap which was his personal countdown to the end of his career.  From the English Barmy Army fans to backyard cricket to a pilgrimage to the International Cricket Hall of Fame in Bowral, @theashes was privileged enough to be granted access to a world most cricket fans can only dream of. We had @theashes showcase Sydney at its best from the harbour and Taronga Zoo, share her thoughts on food (including a Tim Tam slam and vegemite) and other Aussie customs. 

The end result?  @theashes twitter following climbed from a couple of hundred to 15,000 before settling back to 13,000, with a global reach in the hundreds of thousands.  She may not be the big O but she’s an increasingly influential ambassador for cricket, and for Australia

The campaign #gettheashestotheashes2013 is already underway, championed by high profile BBC Cricket commentator Jonathon Agnew and the Barmy Army.  Yes, it helped that she is an incredibly witty young woman, and that the story broke at the start of the so-called silly season for media.  But there are also some very powerful lessons in the @theashes story on effectively embracing social media, particularly given the number of mainstream media active in the twittersphere. 

We didn’t create @theashes but we did work with her to create an opportunity to promote cricket, travel, Australia, and the McGrath Foundation to a global audience.

To succeed, you need to share, you need to be real, and you need to engage as part of a genuine dialogue, no holds barred.  Keep your tweets short enough to be retweeted, allowing your message to ripple across multiple conversations, and immerse yourself in the incredible resource of real-time online media.

LJ Loch (@ljLoch) is the co-founder of REPUBLIC Consulting (www.republic.net.au), one of Australia’s leading reputation management companies.