hopefully i am not yet reaching the age where my heroes start to die off one by one — an era one prays will preceed the one in which one’s peers do likewise by some considerable length of time. when my mother died earlier this year, i was somehow unsurprised to find myself reaching for camus — the loss of a parent could hardly be said to be anything but existential-y after all. in the absence of christopher hitchens however, i can, thankfully, turn to christopher hitchens.

oddly enough, i may very well have been reading the only one of his books that i actually own at the moment he passed. i’ve enjoyed his writing in periodicals and online for years, but only recently saw fit to pay cold hard cash for ink on paper, having picked up the most recent compendium, “arguably,” just last week. i read the better part of “god is not great” just standing in the aisle, transfixed in the barnes and noble like the proverbial choir that loves being preached to, and his hellbent slate posts were regular lunchtime reading. last night however, i was ushered off to sleep by the dulcet tones of hitch excoriating gore vidal for his repeated sins of intellectual lassitude, comparing the critical writings of john updike to The Importance of Being Earnest — for the better part not unfavorably, and considering theism and uh... pretty much anything it touches. plenty has and will be said elsewhere, but it goes without saying that dude would brook no bulls#it and he did so with inimitable panache — cross hunter s. thompson with lord byron. the guy’s freakishly sharp mind, combined with apparently (and reportedly) effortless verbal dexterity, eloquence and passionately held convictions gave voice to impossibly complicated ideas in expressions that could be alternately brutally incisive, sinewy, supple and make his points in a fashion not unlike that of the scotch of which he was unrepentently fond: smooth, complex, possessing of a not-inconsiderable kick and likely to leave one feeling somewhat woozy afterwards.

obviously hitch was in no direct way connected to design or marketing, but whether writing for magazines, the web, books, speeches or debates, he was a communicator of ideas often (usually?) at odds with mainstream conceptions. he remained steadfast and unbending in his insistence upon integrity of intention, unfettered truth at all costs and, even in the face of his own very shuffling off of this mortal coil, determined to shout when necessary, “the emperor has no clothes” as loudly as his voice would carry.

Timely, clear & relevant information is what your members want and being able to provide it to them shows your value as an association. But with websites, e-mail, social networks and all of the other channels the web now has, what’s the best way to reach who with what info? Unfortunately, there is no one right answer because everyone uses the web their own way. But there are some tips you can follow to be as effective as possible. Why just 9? See tip #1.

1. Be aware of information overload. Be sure what you are providing is helpful and necessary, and don’t overwhelm your members.
   
   
2. Make your website a timely information resource, not just brochure-ware. Build an RSS, blog roll, or Twitter feed into your homepage, so the relevant industry news of the day is always right there.
   
   
3. Regular e-newsletters, with short, relevant topics that link to more in-depth information let you deliver information to those not actively seeking it. Plus, it’s a great way to keep your e-mail list/CRM scrubbed.
   
   
4. Make sure your website is designed for mobile screens. Big graphics, wide horizontal navigations and the like don’t allow convenient communication with mobile users. Be sure to have a mobile friendly or mobile site.
   
   
5. If you’re going to have a Twitter account, tweet regularly. Twitter users want to know what’s happening, daily. Product trends, governmental regulations, and trade show happenings are just a few of the things you can tweet about.
   
   
6. If you have a blog, be sure to post at least three to five times a week to keep your audience engaged. The posts can—and should—be more informal and personal than your main website. Entries should encourage discussion through comments.
   
   
7. Re-tweet and use hash (#) tags.
   
   
8. If you have a Facebook page, the more people who’ve friended you, the better. Host a contest that exchanges trade show sponsorship points for friend acceptances. Whichever company drives the most friends gets a free sponsorship. Post regularly with all sorts of information.
   
   
9. Keep Facebook and Twitter separate. Do not repost the same info to both as they each serve different audiences. Facebook is to people who have opted in by “liking” you. Twitter is mostly public and can be searched or followed by anyone with hash (#) tags.

I have a renewed appreciation for the phone lately. Not my DROID which seems to want to be everything but a phone, but I digress…

Last week I placed an order for two gift baskets through Wolferman’s. A few days later, I received a message from them. A simple voicemail from a real live sales rep thanking me for the business and letting me know both my gifts had shipped. Last week, I got a call from a real live person from IAEE, not a pre-recorded teleblast, reminding me to register for the Mid-Year Meeting. I appreciated the personal touch in this age of automation. And since I rarely get calls or voicemails anymore, they had a strong impact.  One of my favorite clients will email me with a prompt, “Do you have time to chat about a few things this morning?”  I’ll call and we can knock out our top to-do’s sometimes in a matter of minutes. It’s efficient and I get to catch up with the person, not just the workload. For one of our other clients, we are currently experimenting with a new marketing tactic: personal follow-up calls to those who opened a call-to-register email but have yet to register for the event.  We know they are interested since they took the time to open the email. We believe that a phone prompt might be the enticement they need to commit to the event. It also provides an opportunity to deliver a sincere thanks or even a special offer.

Just as print is making a comeback, maybe phone calls from real live people are, too. I'm not the only one who hopes so.

Ron Santo, legendary Chicago Cubs third baseman, dies at 70.

When I was in second grade, we lived in the Chicago suburb of Brookfield and I was a huge Cubs fan. My dad would pitch whiffle balls to me in the front yard, and I would go one-by-one through their batting order, imitating each player’s stance and swing. Ron Santo was my favorite — and he had lots of competition: Billy Williams, Fergie Jenkins, Ernie Banks (whose autograph I got at Wrigley in ‘68 or so). He was our home run hitter after all, and besides, I played third base in little league. A year later after we had moved to Lake Bluff, Illinois, I made a drawing of my hero and sent it in to WGN, the Chicago television station (not yet a “super station”) that broadcasted the Cubs’ games and had an after school show during which they showed kids’ artwork between installments of Diver Dan and Sea Hunt. I was pretty damn proud when they showed my drawing of Ron Santo — a truly pre-renaissance conception of perspective, but exquisite detail in the uniform — on the TV, and I’m not entirely sure that the experience didn’t have an impact on the direction that drawing and art would take in my life in years to come.

From time to time, business owners are asked to throw their proverbial hat into the ring for various graphic design awards, Best Places to Work lists, Smart CEO honors and the like. So, it was no big deal when earlier this year we received a Top Agency nomination from BtoB, the magazine for marketing strategists, and were asked to complete a survey. All in a day’s work; answer their questions and move on.

Imagine our surprise a few weeks ago when we learned that Fixation had been named to BtoB’s (www.btobonline.com) 150 Leading Agencies list in their March 2010 issue. This particular honor stands out because a) it’s a national recognition that finds us listed among some of the nation’s biggest and best “name brand” agencies; and b) the questions took into consideration not just our personality or number of employees, but some deeper questions about year-over-year growth and how we were helping our clients deal with a fragile economy.

Look, we know this business is not all about awards. But as a small agency, we rarely get consideration in the rarefied company of the “big boys” like BBDO and Ogilvy & Mather North America. Let’s hear it for the little guy! And let me take this opportunity to first thank a great small-and-smart staff here at Fixation who work hard and produce terrific stuff that is sometimes unheralded. Second, let me honor our clients—many of them long-standing—who hire us to provide creative strategy, design and interactive marketing solutions that help keep them successful and help keep us on top of our game.

Congratulations to all. I’m so proud of this company.

Maddie Grant is the chief social media strategist and co-founder of SocialFish, a consultancy firm that teaches association professionals how to effectively use social media. Maddie and her SocialFish business partner, Lindy Dreyer provide social media strategy, marketing and training to clients like ASAE and the Center and the National Association for the Self-Employed. Maddie and Lindy provided valuable social media training to our team at Fixation last year, for which we remain incredibly grateful.

I often get the question "what's the ROI for using social media?" How would you answer this question?
This is actually the "big question" that seems to be top of mind for everyone now that a lot of organizations have started using social media. In one sense, it's like saying, "what's the ROI of building relationships?" or "What's the ROI of email?"--because social media is a way of communicating and interacting with stakeholders. Having said that, there can be defined and measurable results--but those results need to be directly tied to business and strategic goals. There needs to be a starting benchmark and deliberate tracking--as well as factoring in of indirect costs (staff time, overhead and resources) in order to really measure ROI--which I would say many organizations don't do a great job of in general, not just for social media efforts.

I've heard several folks in the industry say that Twitter's relevance to business is dwindling. How would you respond?
We believe that the core purpose of social media (including, of course, Twitter) is to build relationships and we've seen that work very successfully. If business strategies involve an understanding of that core principle, then Twitter is a fantastic way to reach people in an organization's "ecosystem" and get to know them and what their needs are. If, on the other hand, Twitter is used merely to spam people with marketing messages without a care to fostering that community, then it's not going to work for that business for very long.

What are 5 initial steps that an association professional can take to begin using social media tools right now?
The first step is always to "listen" on the social web--which means start using Google Alerts to search for brand mentions, industry terms, key people, etc. -- to see what people are saying about you or your industry. You can do this, to some extent, without actually having social media profiles at all. Step two is to focus on the places where your people are, and start building a presence there. Step three is to begin building relationships by responding when appropriate to relevant questions, following discussions, answering feedback. Step four, start providing value by posting information people need. Step five, identify those champions (influencers in those spaces who care about what you care about) to help you grow your presence and community and take things to the next level.

Do you see practical applications for associations to use video and mobile applications? Do you agree that video and mobile will grow exponentially in the next year or so?
Ab-so-lutely!! Mobile is becoming huge across all industries--not just because of geolocation, which empowers local connections between people and businesses, but more fundamentally because devices like the iPhone are revolutionary in terms of changing how we want and expect to get what we need, in a very individualized way (e.g. each individual user downloads the apps that they want to use, so every individual phone is different. The Long Tail thrives on mobile!) And if we consider the Millennial generation (now entering the workforce in substantial numbers) and younger, these are people who do all of their communicating through mobile phones, which is changing the landscape of how we work (not tethered to a desktop, which means not tied to 9-5...) With regard to video, associations are definitely starting to see just how valuable it can be to add video to their arsenal of ways of communicating with members--it's easy and attractive, and it's humanizing, in terms of potentially giving some much needed personality to the "brand" they want to promote to their members.

Is there an association that in your opinion has done a really good job of using social media? If so, how and why?
Honestly we've seen many associations doing fabulous things. If I had to pick one, we often show the International Society for Technology in Education as a great example of an association conference home base site that aggregates lots of different social media activities--but really I think the beauty of social media is that much of it is all out in the open for everyone to find. I'd love your readers to check out the Association Social Media Wiki if they are looking for specific examples. I also had a really great series of interviews with association social media managers on the SocialFish blog, where people working for all types and sizes of organizations told us how they internally managed the social media management work.

If you know me well, then you probably know that both my parents passed away in 2009. For years leading up to their rather sudden passing, my brothers and I tried without success to get them to embrace the age of technology and get a computer. They wouldn't. We wanted them to send and receive email. They wouldn't. But here's something I learned as I recently sorted through their things: my old-fashioned, tech-resistent parents still wrote letters. And because they wrote letters, they received letters back. I read things about my parents after their deaths that I would never have known if they had communicated, like the rest of us, through email. Don't get me wrong; I love email as much as the next girl. But there is something fleeting about it that was all the more apparent as I read letters from friends and family to my parents. Fixation's holiday gift this year is a set of custom-designed greeting cards we're calling "Not The Usual Holidays Holiday Cards." They're greetings for holidays that were never elevated to celebrated card-giving occasions. Our hope is to prompt one-to-one communication at times this year when no one particularly expects it. Like Groundhog Day or Arbor Day for example. Write a note, throw on a stamp and surprise someone. We promise that no one will hit "delete."

Happy New Year!

If an application was invented that would allow you to listen in on what your customers are saying about you and respond to their needs, wouldn’t you want it right now? Imagine how this insight would help you frame your company’s growth objectives for the new year. What if I told you that this application already exists and that it’s FREE to use, right now? Would you hesitate? You wouldn’t, right? Well, guess what? If you are not already utilizing Twitter to listen in and respond to your customers, then you are hesitating. So make a resolution as the new year quickly approaches. Commit to joining the Twitter community. Don’t make excuses. Don’t allow yourself to be overwhelmed by the technology. Don’t feel like you have to know what you are doing the minute you join. 

As you read this, you’re probably asking, what are the immediate benefits to participating? Well, below are a few...very simply put:

If you join the conversation, listen in and then respond, you begin to more fully understand your customers’ needs

If you understand your customers’ needs, you can more easily meet those needs

If you can more easily meet those needs, you strengthen your relationship with customers and they trust you more

If they trust you more, they’ll come to you more often and buy more of whatever you are selling

If they buy more of whatever you are selling, then your profits increase

If your profits increase, your company can grow and expand

If you feel intimidated or confused by what Twitter is and how to properly use it, the good news is that you are not alone. There are enough case studies out there now like this one that prove that businesses are using it to grow their brand awareness, communicate with customers and provide a higher level of service.

Ask for help. Ask Fixation for help. Ask a friend for help. Ask your kid for help. Whatever you do, don’t be silent any longer. Listen in and respond. The world of business-customer communication has changed. The shift isn’t happening. It has happened. Now is the time for you to get in the game, join the discussion, satisfy your customers and reap the benefits.

Contact me for some no-strings-attached, good-old-fashioned help.

Call or email me

Join our Facebook page and post your question(s) there

Find me on Linkedin 

Or, if you’re feeling super adventurous: Join Twitter, then follow me at Alex_fixation, then direct message me with your questions.

Let’s talk about the success story of my friend and fashionista extraordinaire, Kimberly Wilson, who has employed some excellent social and viral marketing tactics over the years to build her businesses. Kimberly is a self-described teacher, writer, do-gooder, entrepreneur and eco-fashion designer who founded Tranquil Space Yoga in Washington, DC in 1999. Today, Kimberly is also the author of two books, Tranquilista and Hip Tranquil Chick, a fashion designer with her own clothing line, TranquiliT, and runs the Tranquil Space Foundation which provides opportunities for women and girls to develop leadership skills through creativity.

I met Kimberly Wilson eight years ago when she was teaching my yoga class at Joy of Motion studio in Washington, DC. It didn’t take long for me and many other Joy of Motion students to become devotees of her classes. She taught a select number of classes there, but lucky for us, we quickly learned that she was teaching additional classes at her own studio called Tranquil Space Yoga.

10 years ago, when Tranquil Space was just getting off the ground, Kimberly’s strategy for attracting students was organic and authentic. She created buzz about Tranquil Space by wearing "Tranquil Space Yoga" t-shirts to the classes she taught around town. She patiently built her business, step by step, by relying on her students to spread the word. She posted flyers on community boards in coffee shops. She had a website that clearly outlined her philosophy, class schedule and "brand". And, ultimately, she put her money where her mouth was by providing an excellent service and product that filled the need of many DC urbanites that were looking for a creative, challenging and vibrant yoga practice to balance their busy city lives.

All of these tactics helped the studio to grow from a few classes with a few students a week in her living room to what it is today multiple studio locations in the Washington metropolitan area with more than 75 weekly classes and recognition as one of the 25 best yoga studios in the world by Travel + Leisure magazine. The studio has also been the springboard for Kimberly’s other business ventures.

Back then, Kimberly hit the ground running to spread the word about Tranquil Space Yoga. Today, she’s still doing that with help from a full-time staff and viral communication tools like Twitter, Facebook, a blog, and podcasts. Kimberly understands that when these tools are used authentically - to engage, to start a discussion, to provoke thoughtful awareness, to spark an inspiration, to share a success story – they can be effective for growing a community.

As marketing professionals, we sometimes get so excited by the functionality of new interactive tools that we forget to ask the crucial questions: why and how do we use these tools to engage our communities and get them excited about our products, services and events? We could all take a page from Kimberly’s strategy book in understanding how the universal rules of authenticity, engagement and delivering on your brand promise can equal success and growth regardless of whether you’re in the business of yoga or tradeshows.