Comments on: The Secret Life of Runners

By: Dan Thornton

Dan Thornton — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:00:47 +0000

It’s an interesting problem, and one I can see from both sides.

Individually, I’ve been blogging and using social networks for a number of years to explore ideas, and eventually it resulted in a promotion to become Community Marketing Manager. I’m addicted to Twitter, and wish I had more time for reading and commenting on blogs…

In a professional capacity, I work across numerous brands, and have examples of people who really ‘get it’, some who are enthusiastic but misguided, or lack understanding, and some who are more reluctant…and in any organisation, there’s always going to be that mix. I’m happy to blog and Tweet as an individual, and in fact enjoy the fact that it’s all down to me – others are more familiar with marketing or writing with the support of a brand name, and find it harder to do anything outside of that brand…

I think it’s a 3 stage process. Get them doing something. Get them to improve. And then if they don’t improve, it’s the time to worry. Social Media is still such a new thing to so many people that it’s worth going back and reading your first ever blog post or Tweet and grimacing at it to remember what it’s like to start out…

By: Joe Blow

Joe Blow — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 02:11:50 +0000

While I would agree that all agencies involved in social media consulting should get their feet wet before encouraging their clients to swim (or dive).

But, isn’t it true that we recommend mainstream media programmes without publishing our own newspapers? Or run our own broadcast programmes?

Just a thought.

It’s not really which platform you recommend your clients to participate it. It’s really about relationships. And that’s what we do – help them build relationships. The platform, whether social or mainstream media, is secondary.

By: Lori Russo

Lori Russo — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 19:29:40 +0000

Josh’s point of view is completely understandable, however I disagree with him and have to echo your comments, Todd. We often are not at liberty to discuss the work we do for our clients, but more importantly, we prefer to spend our time thinking about how to meet their needs than thinking about how to promote ourselves. That said, we understand that we must embrace social networking and new technologies, so we are thoughtfully building a program that will represent our company well. We have wonderful examples to reference, including this blog. Thanks for continuing to share your insight with the rest of us.

By: Jason Falls

Jason Falls — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 18:44:39 +0000

Obviously, there are agencies that get it, then people at agencies that get it. My agency falls into the latter, though we’re making great strides.

In addition to fully supporting me and my efforts on Social Media Explorer, Doe-Anderson has started its own blog (http://blog.doeanderson.com) targeted to our clients, former clients, employees, former employees and community friends. It is run by our chief creative officer, David Bonner, who admittedly knew nothing about blogging when he started it. He’s asked me for guidance from time to time, but I have little to do with it.

In addition, most of the folks in my agency are exploring LinkedIn and Facebook from professional stand points. Several of us are even on Twitter, including my CEO, Todd Spencer, though he forgets he has an account and hasn’t used it much, if at all.

But from a social media strategy standpoint, Doe-Anderson has two devoted strategists and an interactive/digital marketing department that clearly gets it and is actively involving clients in the practice.

By: Josh Hallett

Josh Hallett — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 18:44:16 +0000

Good follow-up….I’ll leave the same comment here I posted after your comment on my blog:

Yes it is a marathon, but training for a marathon and completing the race distance are two different things.