Brian Solis joined an incredible lineup of entrepreneurs including Bobbi Brown, Rakia Reynolds, Kendra Scott, and Michael Dell for its remarkable Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network (#DWEN) virtual summit, The Path Forward. Brian created a special presentation for women entrepreneurs attending the event in light of COVID-19 disruption. Entitled, “Today’s Disruptors are Tomorrow’s New Economy,” his presentation focused on iteration, innovation, the art of the pivot, and also the humanity behind resilience. “The challenge, and the gift, before us is the blank…
Your invitation to events in Paris and London
These last few months have certainly been a wonderful whirlwind. With the debut of What’s the Future of Business (WTF), a research report co-produced with Altimeter Group colleague Charlene Li (The Evolution of Social Business: Six Stages of Social Media Transformation), and the roll out of the all new Conversation Prism (v 4.0), I’ve been inspired by all of your support each step of the way. Thank you. It is with great privilege that I announce a special book tour…
How to Make Customer Service Matter Again Part 1
Part 12 in a series introducing my new book, The End of Business as Usual…this series serves as the book’s prequel. Over the years, customer service has been something of a paradox within the organization. The name itself inspires dedication to helping people. And while that is the intention of customer service professionals worldwide, customer service as a line item in business accounting has often placed it in the hands of outsourced organizations, under-qualified personnel, or in the hands of…
Social Media Customer Service is a Failure!
Part three in a series introducing The End of Business as Usual…Written by Frank Eliason (@frankeliason) Certainly not a statement you would expect to hear from the person formerly known as @ComcastCares, but I think it is an important perspective to consider if we are to build stronger relationships with customers. As I look around I see many interesting aspects of social media from large and small businesses. and I am very excited to see companies trying new things to…
Social Media’s Impending Flood of Customer Unlikes and Unfollows
This is part two in a short series to introduce The End of Business as Usual…originally posted on Harvard Business Review (edited) There’s an old saying that carries renewed meaning these days: Give the people what they want. Brands are furiously creating profiles in social networks such as Facebook and Twitter in the hopes of building engaging communities with customers and giving people what the brands think they want. The main activity in this effort is to spur consumers to…
Looking Beyond Paid, Earned, Owned Media: The Brandsphere Infographic
In discussions about new media, you will often hear the division of media opportunities as Paid, Owned, and Earned media (P.O.E.M.). Over the years, I’ve studied the various categorization of media from a few perspectives, 1) that of traditional content creation, owners, budgets, and metrics, 2) how social networks cater to consumption and sharing, 3) how progressive businesses are approaching content strategies in social media and how they’re rethinking departments, intentions, metrics, and budgets, and 4) also how media opportunities…
From Community Management to Command Centers
In early 2007, Chris Heuer, Shel Israel, Deb Schultz, Giovanni Rodriguez, and I explored the evolution of social media within the enterprise at an intimate business event in Palo Alto. One of the more memorable discussions focused on the rise of an official role within business to listen to social discourse and channel inbound questions and comments as well as official responses. The question eventually arose, how do we classify this new role within the organization? The designation of “Community…
How Tweet It Is: @DellOutlet Banks $2 Million on Twitter
Good friend Richard Binhammer of Dell (@richardatdell) reached out to let me know that the company is releasing the latest financial figures for its @DellOutlet account on Twitter tonight. Last December, the company generated over $1 million in revenue through @delloutlet by posting special offers and also nurturing customer relationships on Twitter. Today Dell reported over $2 million in sales through its popular @delloutlet presence. @delloutlet currently boasts close to 625,000 followers seeking exclusive deals available only on the micro…
Dell Deals with Twitter
In March 2008, Gary Vaynerchuck experimented with @santagaryvee on Twitter where he would announce special Wine Library deals and opportunities exclusively for his loyal followers on the popular micro community. While he slowly phased that activity back into his main Twitter streams, many companies were introduced to a new way to engage and harness enthusiasm among those potentially interested in something new and special. Having contributed to the standard of listening and responding to users and pundits on Twitter, Dell…
