QOTD-from Tactical Transparency: how leaders can leverage social media to maximize value and build their brand

Bk series intro, chapter overview
I’m still immersed in the useful insights of authors Shel Holtz and John Havens; and I can’t get enough of their book. Last week launched this review series covering the third chapter about characteristics of transparent organizations. And in light of economic times, how transparent sales strategy benefits your business seemed timely to talk about now.

QOTD-from Tactical Transparency: how leaders can leverage social media to maximize value and build their brand

Communications that interrupt your customers … are out!

Communications based in relationship-oriented marketing … are in!

So this may sound painfully obvious but I ask for your patience in saying this: being honest is the cornerstone of relationships and certainly those in a sales dynamic; yes – I appreciate those of you who may be rolling their eyes at this seemingly trite remark. But frankly how present is honesty – and the correlating transparency – in traditional sales development? Potential customers are often viewed as numbers to quench a thirsty sales quota. And after working in sales years ago, I remember some of colleagues’ approaches. What I recall most is their competition for numbers only vs a sense of service and long-term relationship building. In this chapter, Holtz and Havens specify how transparent relations emerge trust between you and your customer to ideally form a longer term opportunity to reach goals – for sales pro and customer alike.

Combining sense of service and influence: honesty is the link
The desire to actually sell someone your product is not the problem; but thrusting one-way pitches with a here-read-this-brochure insistency is. This chapter offers it all — sharing (8) tactics of transparent, relational tips to the Social Customer Manifesto, the authors discuss these concepts in a concrete, results-driven style. From making small talk more substantive with potential customers — to sharing social media ideas for two-way talks — the examples & case studies provide great context to transparent communications that can lead to trust and thus to customers more likely to see your sales professionalism as a resource.

My favorite part
…about this section is how influencing one’s customer in the spirit of serving them was addressed. It was framed as another trust building investment to seek a green light on just how much impact the sales professional can have. A featured expert describes what he asks his customers up front as they enter the sales cycle, quoting:

How heavily do you want me to influence you here?

In the context of educating the customer, I found this directness refreshing (and strategically useful). The sales executive asked permission from the customer on what degree of involvement they can engage. And it’s understood the sales exec will honor the customer’s reply, even if it delays the sales decision.

Direct. Transparent. Permission-centric. Trust-based. Service-driven…all make for fertile ground in having fruitful relationships with new and current clients.

In weeks ahead: reviewing selected chapters from Tactical Transparency

• -Ch. 16: Yeah, But…: overcoming objections;
• -Ch. 17: Your Road Map to Transparency: creating a plan
• And did you catch them? Check out thoughts via audio cast & more for the first review in this series, starting with Chapter 3: Do You Have What It Takes? Characteristics of Transparent Organizations
• …and a take down of Chapter 4: Why opaque selling doesn’t deliver long-term return on investment.

Photo Through A Glass, Darkly by Drumsnwhistles under Creative Commons License A-NC-ND Works 2.0.

Book jacket for Tactical Transparency used with permission from Meredith Stanton at John Wiley & Sons.

Predictions…got game?
Have you ever met someone who predicted outcomes for a coming year – say in the technology sector for example – who had over a 50% success rate?! Well look no further than the track record from our very own Steve Fisher. Last year of his (10) 2008 forecasts, he nailed 70%. Come on!…the pressure (Joe Loong, fellow blogger on our Solutions Are Power team, brought some humble humor on this point when making his predictions too).

…must…overcome…the pressure.

So my tact? Stick to one prediction!
And this year for our Solutions Out loud podcast, The Predictions Show, we had fun while making reasonable predictions to boot. Both Steve and Joe dove in with multiple visions for the year on Twitter, the social media space and customer service, and even thoughts on Obama’s Blackberry. And I made a single prediction: 2009’s increase in online measurement tools to analyze social media’s success.

How do we know if this stuff works?
By all means industries, small businesses included, using social media have been keenly interested in whether or not their social media strategy worked. So a new year won’t bring a new awakening on the value of metrics and analytics. But in light of economic conditions, there will be a usage surge of many less expensive (or free) Web 2.0 tools. Businesses communicating online in this way will likely – and aggressively – see their community and client engagement grow. And with this I foresee an inspired and innovative push for more ways to measure results.

So as we watch this market unfold, in the interim, here’s a quick mini-link-dump of current metrics tools out there that could help gauge your online engagement:

1. Radian6 – provides varied services with options that customize measurement of data and assess online influence across social media engagement;

2. Compete – offers a range of services like comparing which keywords direct traffic to your site vs your competitors;

3. SM2 by Techrigy – tracks the blogosphere’s conversation and sentiment on your company in real time plus more;

4. Google Analytics – a useful staple in detecting sources of your site traffic, the keywords that attract site/blog visitors with user-friendly set up, and then some.

This is just the tip of the metrics and measurement conversation (…of note Merics Man is a favorite voice on news and opinion). And a note on my own education at Network Solutions (it’s a big place!): I’m learning more about their business Education Center here which recently led to some insightful posts on assessing site visits and conversion rates.

This is just a mini list; so what resources do you use for measuring your online presence and success and how does your business define its online success standards?

photo by Voetmann, Creative Commons

What is the worst-case scenario with transparency? You’re being honest and are saying things that are real—the right outcome is eventually going to come out of that.
-Dave Balter, founder and CEO of BzzAgent

Tactical Transparency comes to a close
Shel Holtz and John Havens include plenty in their book. They combine a concrete definition for transparency with operational concerns, crisis management, and longterm sales strategies to create an inclusive guide on building – and preserving – company brands.

I appreciated its systemic focus on leadership understanding and implementing decisions to attain a transparent culture. And there’s so much more beyond the five chapters reviewed. Ah but there are more posts, conversations, and even books to unearth for small business! So this book review series comes to a close with a few more jewels of insight from Chapter 17.

Your Road Map to Transparency
Take action!…with an action plan that’s well featured in this chapter. From checklists to questionnaires, this section breaks down a road map to transparency in four parts: assess, adjust the culture, establish your voice, and create the action plan.

A micro take down
1. Assess: what tools are in place that can capture employee ideas? The goal here is to create a structure for substantive dialogue within an organization. And this question is one of many to gauge how near or far your company is to providing this type of environment.

2. Adjust The Culture: it takes time. It may be obvious but this premise proved a good reminder for me when making these transparent changes; bottom line it just takes time for the impact of transparent operations to trickle down throughout the company even for small businesses.

Again Dave Balter at BzzAgent makes a point:

“I think the thing people really need to know about this is that transparency is sort of a long-term cause. It is not “flip the switch tomorrow morning and everybody gets what the reality needs to be.”

3. Establish Your Voice: Holtz and Havens cite useful and varied views on traditionally objective journalism and subjectivity. Whatever your company adopts as its communications ‘voice’, it needs to be consistent.

4. Create An Action Plan – ego surfing and more: Monitoring one’s reputation can be a great opportunity to listen to those impacted or interested in your business. Whether it’s negative or positive feedback discovered in this process, it gives your business a chance to react with speed and ownership. More solutions abound in this section on communicating financial matters, crises, accessibility of leadership to strategic publics (and on…).

So hey, one question:
Of what’s been covered in these five chapters (review linked below), what appeals to you and your business about this book?

Previously from Tactical Transparency’s book review series

• -Ch. 3: Thoughts via audio cast & more launches the first review with Do You Have What It Takes?Characteristics of Transparent Organizations;
• -Ch. 4: Why opaque selling doesn’t deliver long-term return on investment.
• -Ch. 10: …on the benefits of issues blogs;
• -Ch. 16: There’s a fine discussion here too on overcoming objections from different entities and partners within your business on being transparent.

Photo Through A Glass, Darkly by Drumsnwhistles under Creative Commons License A-NC-ND Works 2.0.

Book jacket for Tactical Transparency used with permission from Meredith Stanton at John Wiley & Sons.

It was different this time.

It’s always informative at Google’s Tech Agenda speaker series. Their recent panelist events met that reputation yet the climate differed from past events. Something else framed the program: the dynamic of political contest (which was a thrill to observe). All panelists were cordial & professionally driven. Yet there were topics debated and eluded to about different campaign tactics & the resources to execute. It’s not my mission to overly focus on this; there are topics I want to feature that could better be of use to small business and certainly traditional campaigners. But I wanted to share that briefly for the simple reason it’s why I love this town!

The players
Some of the top campaign strategists from 2008’s presidential race met recently at Google’s Washington, DC office. And the first panel discussed citizen participation and practicing openness with social tech – with lessons from the campaign trail. It was a great conversation with the archived the Tech Agenda video a worthwhile watch.

Panelists included Jeff Eller, President & CEO of Public Strategies and former White House Director of Media Affairs; Sam Graham-Felsen, Obama for America’s official blogger on the New Media Team and writer for the Nation;
Cyrus Krohn, eCampaign Director, Republican National Committee and Yahoo!’s former director of election strategy (and the once publisher of Slate Magazine); and Western Regional Field Director Buffy Wicks, on Obama’s Campaign. And
Steve Grove, YouTube’s news & political director, moderated the event.

Internet and primary source
Rumor has it … that Obama’s administration will govern a digital America (an understatement … or over estimate?!). Even when this can seem an overly discussed subject, it’s less so when considering what online technologies were like pre 2008’s campaign. For starters, Web 2.0 has garnered more credibility as a resource. And panelists mentioned in this last presidential campaign, 40% of online American readers wanted to access primary source information from the Internet i.e. policy papers, video, etc.

On failure & retrospect: if only social media existed “in my day”
I liked the “what if” perspective on what possibly could’ve happened with certain initiatives if social tech existed during President Clinton’s administration. But back then, the Internet environment was more Web 0.5 vs today’s user-generated content and community-centric 2.0. Regarding healthcare reform attempts in 1993, Eller remarked modern social media tools could’ve facilitated hunger for change on healthcare issues. Providing details on the proposed healthcare plan on broader levels would’ve been key.

…and what that said to me about small business: word of mouth
So to consider Eller’s comment: he wished he had the social tech ability in ‘93 to share the healthcare plan on ‘broader levels’. He wanted to communicate with more citizen ‘markets’. But markets can be viewed as conversations — regular folks convening over ideas (as the Cluetrain Manifesto lays out). So what would’ve been useful in his day was to not just ‘mass share’ Clinton’s healthcare plan but to enable people to talk on its tenets.

Think of all the online forums, debates, formed groups (plus Twitter hashtags), potential video chats on a range of platforms, and live streams that would’ve allowed citizens to learn, talk about, and give feedback for that plan. I’m horrifically oversimplifying what Eller encountered back then I’m sure. But with social media’s inherent agility for word of mouth connection and feedback, response to 1993’s healthcare plan could’ve resulted more favorably.

So a question (…after all my theorizing)
How do you give your customers a chance to connect and respond to your business?

Mainstream media willl soon be inoperable the way it is now.

-Cyrus Krohn, eCampaign Director, Republican National Committee

Mainstream media and debating its future
Panelists differed on the relevance of mainstream media in its current form. Some believed it still has a piece at the communications table. Some contended people want to look at information in an unfiltered way i.e. social media but still want analytical suggestions from traditionally trained journalists. Yet others disagreed, saying such an argument has a short shelf life since TV’s will soon have web access.

The relevance of training teams (online and offline), online calling tools & community, plus more were covered. The Google series continues to be robust while appealing to different industries beyond politics.

One more question…and a few more
What events do you find most useful for networking?
-for social media learning?
-or for basic interest in the social media and tech sectors?

I want to be your event ambassador! So anytime 24/7, the team and I welcome your ideas in the comments section.

photo by Grufnik, Creative Commons 2.0

Transcending the ‘absolutely not!’ syndrome when starting new transparent operations and social media
Tactical Transparency’s Ch. 16: Yeah, but…Overcoming Objections

Have your legal advisors ever said:
Launch a blog?!…and start conversations we can’t control?! NO WAY?!

Or has your product development team ever screamed:
What if employees inadvertently reveal too much and give our competition an edge? NO WAY?!

Well authors Shel Holtz and John Havens address these concerns companies face when enacting more transparent business. That’s this chapter’s focus for our book review series on Tactical Transparency.

Get out of my office.

-AKG President & Chairman of the Board Bob Buckman to his then legal team at Buckman Laboratories, who asked him to halt a social media practice (per Tactical Transparency: how leaders can leverage social media to maximize value and build their brand)

Confronting the big four objections against transparency i.e. legal/regulatory, competition, technical, & investment
Experts and business leaders cited in this chapter understand if not appreciate dissent for using social media. That quote per Bob Buckman above was stated only after he reviewed with his legal team what weighed more: benefits of keeping an internal CompuServe forum active or shutting it down.

It’s all in the risk analysis.

I liked the direct, well rounded context of this chapter for that reason. The authors nor those interviewed wish to dismiss advisory concerns for transparency (and the social media tools to implement them) without hearty risk analysis first. This section offers useful reasoning for business leaders to use when incurring those objections.

For starters…:

1) When legal and regulatory get concerned:
Yep these professionals intend to keep us free and clear of legal violations. We need them (side thanks to NetSol’s legal team)! What I really valued on this particular topic is learning more about Charlene Li’s ROI formula when considering an employee blog practice (she’s from Forrester Research and co-author of Groundswell). Holtz and Havens cite other ideas of how business leaders and even employees can clear legal caution.

2) If your team fears the competition getting ahead:
Included is a range of counter arguments for this particular objection; but what proved most persuasive to me was learning this from a CEO:

70% of their product ideas came from outside the company anyway.

So why stifle social media efforts that could further enable this type of idea exchange and sourcing?

3) If your tech team gets nervous about risk of infection from Web 2.0:
Software applications and urban tech myths are assessed which could alleviate IT fears. NOTE: My apologies to be cryptic here; I’m trying to avoid giving away too many specifics!

4) If your investment funds for social media tools look slim:
Certain open-source blogging platforms and some more expensive software are offered to get your team thinking on what could be the most benefit in the face of risk.

Quick question
It’s a good, quick read that combines strong endorsement for transparent business decisions with a logical respect for and response to risk. What type of risk is highest on your list when it comes to implementing more transparent operations? What benefits in your view out weigh those risks? Your experience and feedback are welcome in the comments (always!).

Next week: last chapter review installment from Tactical Transparency

• -Ch. 17: Your Road Map to Transparency: creating a plan

And for the other (4) archived chapter reviews:

• -Thoughts via audio cast & more launches the first review with Chapter 3: Do You Have What It Takes?Characteristics of Transparent Organizations;
• -…and a take down of Chapter 4: Why opaque selling doesn’t deliver long-term return on investment.
• -With last week’s review of Chapter 10 on the benefits of issues blogs;

Photo Through A Glass, Darkly by Drumsnwhistles under Creative Commons License A-NC-ND Works 2.0.

Book jacket for Tactical Transparency used with permission from Meredith Stanton at John Wiley & Sons.

Shireen Mitchell, part 3 of 3:
From choosing America’s CTO to bridging the digital divide
Shireen’s work intersects with digital education/access, tech policy, and politics which includes making technology more accessible for minority children.

She’s also a social media and technology strategist, founder of Digital Sistas/Sisters, Chair of the Media and Technology Task Force of the National Council of Women’s Organizations (NCWO), and president of the Community Technology Centers’ Network (CTCNet) Board of Directors.

Being digitally aware & accessible can help you expand your sphere of opportunity.

On economic stability and online access
What I appreciated about Shireen’s talk was how her experience related to online strategy, small business, but also to why basic online access (or lack thereof) can impact economic security. It framed a larger issue that I hadn’t recently discussed.

She explained further with these two factors:

1. A very basic reason is we’ve moved from traditional job seeking opportunities to online searching. When you’re looking for that middle or upper middle income job, you need to have access to technology – the basics – like email for sending your resume. And consider certain circumstances, let’s use President-Elect Obama’s transition team as example; certain jobs like Obama’s CTO position were publicized almost exclusively online.

2. The job one actually holds can inhibit (or propel) online access and its related professional benefits. When you work in more traditional shift employment – you don’t get certain online or tech opportunity. For instance, if you’re on the clock at a labor intensive and/or shift-schedule job, you’re doing the type of work that excludes a computer or email access. Being connected online can help you continue building skills and a professional network by sheer access to information i.e. reading online job sites, industry competitive blogs, social networking sites, etc.

So to summarize these key points, online learning (and access to it) opens the door to expanded economic opportunity to certain types of jobs and the educational resources to get them. This may seem obvious to you and me; but not realizing this can hinder economic possibility for many.

On Digital Sisters, Obama’s technology policy, & a national CTO
Although we’ve always been apart of policy impacting technology and women, we [at Digital Sisters] are now working on an agenda that’s specifically for technology and women for the Obama administration. I’d like to see a woman CTO for this country – not just for the sake of having a woman; but because I believe what women bring to the technical field is not just hard core understanding of technology. Women also bring keen awareness of HCI (human computer interaction). They understand end-user experience.

Women [working in technology spaces] get that human factor; they can think beyond the shiny toy tech syndrome. They know functionality.

-Shireen Mitchell on women candidates for the country’s first national CTO

There are plenty of women candidates who would be effective CTOs in Obama’s administration: Carly Fiorina, Meg Whitman, Sophie Vandebroek, and also Mary Lou Jepsen.

On national technology policy
There is plenty to emphasize but for certain, we must focus on technology integration and innovation for our nation’s future. We are stumbling with inconsistent innovation that lacks diversity. That needs to be mandated from the highest level — to diversify, find the voids in technological professions, and instill diversity in technical education and development in a systemic way. We will fall further behind in this industry as a country if we don’t.

Shireen Mitchell: from media, politics, & tech strategy
Shireen blogged both political conventions this summer, including this RNC audio interview about Gov. Palin’s acceptance speech. But her experience goes beyond the blogosphere. She’s a social media and technology strategist, founder of Digital Sistas/Sisters, Chair of the Media and Technology Task Force of the National Council of Women’s Organizations (NCWO), and president of the Community Technology Centers’ Network (CTCNet) Board of Directors.

A strong technology advocate for underserved communities
Shireen Mitchell talked recently with Solutions Are Power on topics ranging from tools for small business, technology access/forecasts, President-Elect Obama’s technology agenda, and on! It was an idea-packed conversation that I didn’t want to end.

On social tools, cloud computing, & shoe string budgets

Small businesses and other organizations I work with usually look to technology for a couple of things:

1. Marketing on a shoe string budget and with that, managing printing costs, are common: When advising, I find people want a process that’s more efficient and cost effective — especially if they print 1000 copies of a collateral piece that later reveals a typo. Technology helps them manage that process more effectively.

2. Tech can practically be used for another staff member, especially with nonprofits. [Smaller organizations especially] are able to dedicate small tech-centric tasks like content management for their website; content management is the main one I see organizations needing.

3. And with the marketing push lately [in this economy], people are wanting social media tools. They don’t want to officially retain a PR or marketing person.

4. Economically, opportunities now in cloud computing are becoming more central i.e. using web word processing tools vs spending a ton of their budget on software licenses (more on small business and cloud computing tools).

On forecasting chat tools & social content
I think it’s going to be interesting to watch the crossover between social media tools like Twitter; Twitter is based on old models like bbs boards. It emerges as a new technology because many [users] don’t remember the old stuff. As Twitter ages we will come up with new creative ways to use what I would consider to be a mega chat — moving from mega chat to smaller versions using hashtags and back again.

I think we’ll move back & forth from open and closed networks from one point of entry – with say Twitter or other social media tools – that will be funneled back to one platform.

Tech talks continue with Shireen: Obama’s technology policy
Join us!
…later this week for the third and final segment of Shireen’s conversation on President-Elect Obama’s technology policy & the nation’s next CTO.

She’s been called a Heroine in Technology
It was a fantastic opportunity to speak with Shireen Mitchell for Solutions Are Power. Earlier this summer both Shireen and I blogged the DNC in Denver but her background & advocacy for digital literacy far exceed the political blogosphere. She’s a social media and technology strategist, founder of Digital Sistas/Sisters, Chair of the Media and Technology Task Force of the National Council of Women’s Organizations (NCWO), and president of the Community Technology Centers’ Network (CTCNet) Board of Directors.

We met recently to discuss small business mindsets toward social tech, networking online and off, the nation’s first Chief Technology Officer…and then some.

On the right tech: what small business should know

Knowing which technology your stakeholders use is critical.

When it comes to engaging communities in so many instances, using social media technology itself is great but those tools prove powerless if they are not also used by your actual community.

Social media is based on a frame which assumes community exists.

But if that community does not have the experience or skills to participate online then basically what’s the point of that particular tool or social media campaign?

On getting too stuck on certain tools
Next we – as social media strategists – want to make sure we aren’t forcing ourselves or our organizations to be stuck or overly restricted in a specific tool – like using only Twitter or only Facebook. Strategists and advisors need to look at multiple tools that can still engage successfully without being overly dependent on only one web based tool or mobile platform, etc.

On staying connected: online networks impact offline collaboration
I talked recently to people in the digital divide field, and how they stay connected with events and their specific communities. One colleague in fact just got on Facebook for the first time. And once they got started, they realized they should have signed up much sooner. Events and meetings announced on Facebook make it possible for me to be involved in my multiple communities.

Online networks help me stay more informed and available offline.

On the ‘Alert Factor’
Online networking tools help me expand opportunity to be more aware of what’s going on in [my tech & political] space. And even the whole idea around marketing, Google alerts and Blog RSS feeds notify me of articles I need to read. This ‘alert’ factor becomes really noticeable when I see links to the same article posted via email but then also on Twitter (more on Twitter for business) and Facebook (more from Small Business Trends-Facebook podcast ). Then I really know what’s important and what I need to read.

My online social networks help me realize valuable resources – like thought leader articles, etc – that I might have missed if I wasn’t involved online.

On her must reads
Mashable and Wired – they’re must reads – plus CNET is a daily must read as well. And I receive email alerts on certain topics. I used to spend $80 each month on tech magazines but thanks to the blogosphere, I’m not that dependent on print issues anymore. Even though Wired sometimes comes in late to the conversation, I do find it generally keeps me informed (even though they are void of women’s voices on thought leadership too often).

Want more technology resources?

Don’t walk but run to read fellow Solutions Are Power blogger Joe Loong’s series ‘Fake your way to being a social media expert‘.

Join us for more…and soon!
Later this week, Shireen continues talking with Solutions Are Power on the nation’s first CTO, technical literacy, and economic stability.

Take issue!
Ch. 10: how issues blogs show people you’re listening

Authors Shel Holtz and John Havens continue to hit it out of the park with their latest book Tactical Transparency. This month I’ve reviewed select chapters of the book starting with Chapter 3 characteristics of transparent organizations and Chapter 4 on a more transparent approach to selling & ROI. Quick note: the book cites blogger experiences for larger companies; but small business value was definitely present with more highlighted below.

Blogs that focus on a specific business issue provide distinct advantages for any organization.

-from Tactical Transparency: how leaders can leverage social media to maximize value and build their brand

Take aways for small business
So why blog about championed social issues (or even concerns valuable to your business yet less focused on by greater societal opinion)?

It builds trust.

It builds trust with your customers and stakeholder community – with at the forefront – your willingness to be honest about your position and status within the conversation i.e. be truthful on that recent review on your restaurant even if it didn’t score as high as hoped.

More take aways from the book

1) Be confident in your chosen issue to blog about.
Negative or contentious comments may come up on your issues blog especially if it’s an environmental concern like protecting the Amazon. What cause related to your business or industry standard proves valuable enough to you to voice opinion? and to get opinion back from others?

2) Realize that issues blogging creates a chance to show what drives your business philosophy.
Sure, a critical goal is to be profitable(!) but this type of blogging mindset creates opportunity to relate on your business values. Whether it be going green, leading industry policy, or even forming your company’s advisory board, revealing your stance can engender trust with customers and your industry.

3) Frame your issues so the community – or press – comes to you.
Small businesses have great opportunity to be socially responsible. Your blog can be an apt conversation hub for those issues your community, stakeholders, and your core business most value…with welcome results in customer loyalty and perceived expertise.

We measure ROI in trust.

-Bob Langert, VP of corporate social responsibility, McDonald’s

And Langert’s quote from the book goes on: We want people to say the blog [Open for Discussion] is transparent and that it’s open and that it’s real dialogue.

Do you agree with this chapter’s premise on issues blogging (or again, even issues centric to your development … like forming an advisory board from what I linked above?)?

What other benefits or consequences do you see from extending your business in this way?

In weeks ahead: reviewing selected chapters from Tactical Transparency

• -Ch. 16: Yeah, But…: overcoming objections;
• -Ch. 17: Your Road Map to Transparency: creating a plan
• -And did you catch it? Check out thoughts via audio cast & more for the first review in this series, starting with Chapter 3: Do You Have What It Takes?Characteristics of Transparent Organizations;
• …and a take down of Chapter 4: Why opaque selling doesn’t deliver long-term return on investment.

Photo Through A Glass, Darkly by Drumsnwhistles under Creative Commons License A-NC-ND Works 2.0.

Book jacket for Tactical Transparency used with permission from Meredith Stanton at John Wiley & Sons.

The stars are in our midst … and small businesses can only benefit.

Late October, Network Solutions hosted the Solutions Stars video conference featuring exclusive conversations from BlogWorld Expo. Those in the Solutions Stars series talked shop on everything from building strong web presence to understanding social media strategy.

Say what?! listen, listen, listen
This week, I revisit another clip in the series about listening to your communities through social media. Watch the full clip below as these marketing leaders, top bloggers, and entrepreneurs discuss who to listen to online — and where to find them.

But first, the players … :

David Alston, VP of Marketing, Radian6
relates a key tenet of social media to sales & party-goin’ strategy

Ryan Anderson, Community Relations, Overlay.tv
tells more on businesses “answering the social phone”.

David Berkowitz, Director, Emerging Media & Client Strategy, 360i
reveals a source of inspiration for what your next step should be in a social media initiative.

Toby Bloomberg, CEO, Bloomberg Marketing
gives a Web 2.0 lay-of-the-land for learning what’s being said about your business.

Matt Dickman, VP of Digital Marketing, Fleishman-Hillard
recommends an easy approach to finding relevant influencers and customers in your space.

Robyn Tippins, Community Manager, Yahoo Development Network
shares how small business can “stand out” when it comes to listening to communities and customers online.

Chris Brogan, VP of Strategy, CrossTech Media
names (3) sources where small businesses can start finding online conversations about them.

Jason Falls, Director, Social Media at Doe-Anderson; blogger for Social Media Explorer
Outlines tips for keeping your business’ ear to the ground toward your customers.

Brian Solis, CEO, FutureWorks, and author of PR 2.0
gives the scoop on how to see what comes up online that’s related to your business.

Watch the whole series(!)
Just click below for the full clip on listening with social media or check out all (9) of Solutions Stars video conference interviews.

Questions for you
What ideas from the Solutions Stars video appeal the most for your interests, needs? Where have you unearthed conversations about your business online? And which tools or social networks helped you find them?

Photo, Stars at Your Feet, by Janusz I under Creative Commons A-ND-NC 2.0