Future Blog Posts...

NEW BLOG/WEBSITE - www.WOM10.com

If you have followed WOM10 you have a pretty good idea of what I blog about - Word-of-Mouth on Steroids, how you create it and achieve it with the proper use of Social Media (and I emphasize the word "proper). We have upgraded and updated the site and the blog posts - and a bunch of other things.  If you found this page, we no longer blog at this address - please use the one in RED above...

But as anyone who knows me is aware, the real core of what I am completely committed to and passionate about hasn't been touched on as directly as I would have liked to emphasize.  This is the "Holy Grail", the "End Game" or the "Pinnacle" of what everyone wants to achieve from their Customers, Partners, Employees, and even personally - ADVOCACY.


ADVOCACY is my passion and goal - it is what I focus on whether it is with a client, building relationships or helping others improve their business or personal life.  If you have achieved ADVOCACY, you are at the top of the pyramid.  Since I am so passionate about this topic and believe we are in a "game changing" time, I want to talk about it and share what I know and what I experience.  It is the world where Social Media, Customer Experiences, and Word-of-Mouth "intersect" and work together

NEW BLOG/WEBSITE - www.TheNewAdvocate.com

This is where I blog about this exciting and lively topic of - "what it takes to create and build ADVOCACY and how it will help you grow your business and relationships".  I hope you will not only check it out, but engage with me and share your thoughts, ideas, and stories.  The more experiences we have to share, the faster and deeper we can all get there.  See you on the other side...

Promoting won't get you WOM - unless you're a coupon

While I am on the topic of Authenticity and how it is such a key component to success these days, I wanted to bring another topic into the conversation - how does it help you build "Word-of-Mouth" with your audience.  From a business perspective, this is the holy grail - "getting more of the right people talking more about you."

To start with, it is key to understand that Word-of-Mouth from a positive perspective only comes from someone that has a certain degree of trust with you.  If someone doesn't trust you, even in the slightest way, they won't talk positively about you and spread the word - won't happen.  So your first order of business is to create some level of trust with your audience.  The ideal of course is to have a great deal of trust and a relationship - this gives you massive word-of-mouth.  Also, it is important to remember the degree or intensity of their word-of-mouth is also proportional to the amount of trust you have earned - more trust = more passion in their word-of-mouth.

Another key ingredient is this issue of promotion.  Too many people today are using social media for "promotion" and somehow believe they will increase their word-of-mouth if they do more of it.  That is so "90s and doesn't work in today's connected world, unless you are a "coupon" that someone wants to share.  If you're not, then you need to step away from the microphone and let your customer or prospect or partner or employee have turn.  They need to talk to you so you can understand what they need from you.

Look at it this way.  If you were at a party and standing in a small group of people and all you were doing is promoting and talking about yourself, how long do you think it would be before everyone left the conversation - not long.  In an earlier post I talked about the concept of "It's all about Me" which talked  about our new world and audience.  The question to ask yourself is, "If you are always promoting, how does your audience get to know the real you and if they don't get to know the real you, why would you expect them to talk more about you in an authentic way and build more word-of-mouth?"  They can't and they won't.

You  can really create a desire in people to talk more about you and talk about you through the most powerful sales and marketing tool ever invented, "word-of-mouth".  Just stop promoting and start listening and engaging in an authentic way and as they get to know and appreciate the real you, they will be anxious to spread the word - which is what it's all about.

Authenticity is an "accelerator"

One of the wonderful aspects social media has brought to the forefront is the need to be authentic.  This was never a problem decades ago when everyone pretty much knew you and what you were about so it wasn't a big issue.  But as we have spread out around the world it has been much easier to "hide" and "pretend" to be something you're not - until social media arrived.

Now there are multiple ways, thanks to the tools of social media, for people to find out the "real you" - it is much more difficult to hide and pretend.  Those that get this and are naturally authentic individuals are leading the pack in using this to their advantage.  Those that are still trying to hide are being discovered and discarded.  Unless you are a "coupon" that is being sent out, you need to demonstrate authenticity to win your audience over.

The beauty of authenticity is that your audience actually wants to get to know you and learn more about you and see all your strengths and warts. This is what makes us human.  Regardless of whether it is personal or business, the sooner you get to authenticity, the sooner you will begin to build TRUST and as you continue to build trust, you are able to start building a RELATIONSHIP with that person or your audience.  But the core ingredient is authenticity.  The Relationship Management Institute gives you a much deeper look into what makes up authenticity in their post, "The Journey Towards Authenticity."

Social media simply allows you to do it much faster and more effectively than ever before.  There are many more ways people can see who you are and what you are about by what you say, write, comment, respond, etc.  Social media simply allows your audience to "peel back the onion" on you and begin to see who you really are by what you say, who you interact with, what you support, etc.  The good news - those who have nothing to hide can use these tools to really accelerate their relationships and build a solid following faster than ever before and more globally.  The pretenders or posers will eventually  be discovered and discarded.

Getting "It's all about ME" to work for you

There is absolutely, positively no doubt in the world today that the key mantra for people is "It's all about ME".  We see it in TV programming (approximately 70% of today's programming is "reality" TV), we see it in the traditional advertising and we really see it in social media.

In one of my earlier posts, every customer today has a microphone, I talked about how customers today not only have a microphone in their hand and can talk about you and your company, but with the introduction of social media, they also have the ability to self-publish.  This has changed the future of sales, marketing, customer service and all our communications going forward.

The way to have this working for you is to STOP TALKING ABOUT YOU and START TALKING ABOUT THEM.  Sounds simple, but if you are watching the content out on the airwaves it is apparently very hard to implement.  The majority of people using social media obviously either don't understand this rule or they can't get their arms around what it really means.  Your audience wants you to talk about them, pay attention to them, and cater to them.  What they don't want is for you to "broadcast" and "promote" you and your company.

If you can get your arms around this simple yet often misused principle, you will be able to build much stronger and lasting relationships, more trust, and ultimately more loyalty and advocacy.  So write about your customers, tell their stories, showcase their great achievements, and you will find some incredible feedback and achieve your own "word-of-mouth on steroids" that will help you grow your sales and advocacy.

Crap is still Crap...

OK, so this post is a bit out of character for me but it is something that comes up all the time so I wanted to at least address it and then move on.  As you read through my posts my focus is on keeping things positive and giving some ideas, solutions, and helpful insights into how you can create more positive relationships leading to Advocacy and positive Word-of-Mouth.  This post is different.

I can't tell you how many times I get asked this question after giving a speech on Social Media and Word-of-Mouth on Steroids, "My business is really struggling and I know we have the best product or service, how can I use social media to improve this situation and drive more sales?" Or at least some version of this type of question.

My approach is to tell people the way it is or the real, authentic, straight story - at least from my vantage point and perspective. So regardless of the audience, I always give an answer that has something like this included in it, "Crap is Crap and no amount of social media can fix a crappy product or service, it can only amplify its good or its bad. Authenticity rules in social media and people will talk about what it really is, not what you want it to be. Spend the time to get your product or service to not be so crappy and you will then be able to create viral word-of-mouth about it and drive more of the right people to you and that will drive sales".

Granted, that is NOT the answer they wanted to hear but it is the answer they should understand. Get your house in order and then the social airwaves will be your best friend and people will spread the right kind of word-of-mouth out there about you and your product/service. It reminds me of the well used phrase, "You can dress up the pig but it the end, it is still a pig". If you are trying to sell pigs, then this approach works. But most are trying to sell something else and in the end, everyone figures out it is a pig and not only leaves, but leaves spreading the wrong kind of word-of-mouth - negative.

Social Media and specifically Word-of-Mouth is an extremely powerful tool to have in your arsenal but it isn't the "silver bullet" some may lead you to believe.  It creates massive leverage when done well and correctly and can be the most cost effective and results oriented aspect of your sales and marketing program.  If you get the rest of your business "right", we can make social media put it on steroids - but it has to be right.