I attended the LinkedOC Event at Oakley HQ in Foothill Ranch with Bryan Elliott, Chris Brogan and a lot of the OC and LA Tech crew. The headquarters in a word: AWESOME!! The product and the story behind the product is amazing. Basically, my next set of sunglasses are gonna be the Oakley Brand.
Chris Brogan Speaking (and takeaways):
- Humankind’s greatest need is the need to feel wanted. That’s what customer’s want from most businesses. So think about how you can make your customers feel like they’re more than just a number and a transaction.
- Social Media is the new phone. Every department should be a part of it. It’s lead generation, sales funneling, content marketing, and support.
- Social Media in it’s Evolution:
- Two Frames:
- Experiment, execute and expand the community. That’s how great ideas become business. Try new things. But don’t be afraid to fail. Pick yourself up and try something new again applying what you learned from your mistakes. “Do or do not. There is no try.” – Yoda
- CCM Theory – Content, Community & Marketplace
- Two Frames:
- Build a Homebase. Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are not your solution. Any site that’s not your own site is a borrowed network and is not your own. Build your OWN site. Then use social networks to drive traffic there.
- Community: You live or die by your database. (Advise from Jeff Pulver) Build lists and add value. Then, it’s what you do with it where the magic happens. What are you doing to build and cultivate relationships? Are you checking in with people frequently and often?
- Outposts – Spend time on networks and talk about them, not you. When people are ready to buy, they’ll think about you because they know that you care. It’s a cafe type business. People (clients) want to know that you care. This is called: “Being there before the sale.”
- Think up a media presence. Story-telling sells. Make videos about your buyers. Customers want to hear about themselves.
- Preferrential Treatment matters. Why the hell aren’t you massaging the top 20 percent of your customers?!
To Do’s:
- Revamp your LinkedIn Profile. Update your profile across all other networks. The Networking status link is a gold mine!
- Revisit your site for conversion and community. Ask yourself: “How am I doing the community thing? Am I making visitors feel welcome?”
- Look at your website’s “About” Page and put a face on it.
Are you using Cover It Live?
No. I'm on my Crackberry. Is that an iPhone only app?
Sounds like an amazing conference Ricardo! Love to hear Chris talking about building a homebase. That's what I've been preaching! 🙂
Thanks for sharing your notes!
The facility was amazing! And Chris as always was great. My biggest take-aways were:
– Build a Homebase (starts with your blog): then work on driving traffic there.
– Build your Network (your database is everything): oh so true and yet I think we fail to see the opportunity there.
– Humanize your interactions with clients. In other words, what can you do to make them feel like more than just a number? It's about relationships. Real, meaningful relationships. Those are the ones that bring you referral business time and time again.
I blogged this from my Blackberry during the event and then edited later of course. I need to get better about live-blogging it but it was a fun shot at doing it the first time around 😛
Really? From your BB? That's just awesome!
I know right! It sure beats carrying around a laptop and lookin' for an outlet.
I did have to come back and do a little formatting on it but otherwise it was all good 🙂
Thanks so much for sharing, amigo. You're good people. : )
Ha, we should all be thanking you. I just saw your “Tank” video, looked like a fun/awesome time! Glad you enjoyed your trip to the OC and thanks for taking the time (as always) to hang with the crowd afterwards 🙂
Hey Ribeezie – it was so great meeting you! Loved your blogworld story lol! I coming to find you on LinkedIn now and check out your vamped up profile!
Hi Ashley, likewise! As for LinkedIn, I haven't quite updated it just yet, heh.
Good to see you here and look forward to catching up some more with you in the OC! Let me know if there's anything I can help you with 🙂
I think the “homebase” thing has people confused and scared at the same time. It takes work to develop your own place and even more work to maintain it for your customers. But, there's nothing that can replace the connections and trust that come from having it in place.
Killer takeaways. Thanks so much for sharing.