8 Brands Using the Collaborative Economy to Market with the Crowd

It pays to share, as the crowd shares your brand for you. Marketers first adopted the internet and then social media. The next digital phase is the Collaborative Economy. What’s that? If you’ve heard of Airbnb, Uber, Lyft, Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and the Maker Movement, this … Continue reading8 Brands Using the Collaborative Economy to Market with the Crowd

Collaborative Economy Strategy: Marketplaces Expand Your Brand

Mature software companies allow a “thousand flowers to bloom” as 3rd parties would build and sell new wares around their online marketplaces. Now, every company can tap this strategy. Make no doubt it, the Collaborative Economy continues to grow.  At the start of the year, … Continue readingCollaborative Economy Strategy: Marketplaces Expand Your Brand

10 Key Stats of the Community Manager Space #CMAD

Update: Here’s a Wrapup of #CMAD 2013, which Trended. Today is Community Manager Appreciation Day, in celebration of saluting this important role changing the face of corporations and customers everywhere, I wanted to share original data and insights on the state of the space.  Community … Continue reading10 Key Stats of the Community Manager Space #CMAD

Breakdown: A Strategy for Engaging Passion Communities

Left: A social network mapped out, this one is of influential photographer Kris Krug’s social graph. These breakdown posts often contain content that didn’t fit into research reports, and contain input from industry experts or deeper client engagements, see other ‘breakdown‘ posts. Unsure how to … Continue readingBreakdown: A Strategy for Engaging Passion Communities

Community Management Education (and Certs) a Sound Investment –Yet Experience Trumps All

For seasoned or budding community managers, investing in a solid foundation of learning through an education program and becoming certified is a good investment –yet don’t think classroom time is sufficient, as time and experience in the field is the most important. A Need for … Continue readingCommunity Management Education (and Certs) a Sound Investment –Yet Experience Trumps All

Expect Rapid Evolution of the Branded Support Community

Companies With Support Communities Not Ready For Changes To Come For over a decade, with simple BBS systems to community platforms, support communities haven’t undergone much innovation.  Often a silo and tucked away in a website, these communities are going to take center stage.  With … Continue readingExpect Rapid Evolution of the Branded Support Community

Community Manager Appreciation Day #CMAD (Every 4th Monday of Jan)

Every fourth Monday of January, let’s take the time to pause, recognize, and celebrate the efforts community managers around the world to improve customer experiences. Passionate About Customers The title matters not, whether it’s online customer advocate, online customer support, company evangelist, disgruntled customer handler. … Continue readingCommunity Manager Appreciation Day #CMAD (Every 4th Monday of Jan)

Checklist: Develop a Successful Advocacy Program

Recently, I attended a corporate event that showcased products related to an industry. Press, media, bloggers, and influencers were invited to attend, and meet a variety of vendors and see products. Featured were members of the company’s advocacy program, (a group of preferred clients), and … Continue readingChecklist: Develop a Successful Advocacy Program