Last week my friend Keith Fletcher of the South Florida Interactive Marketing Association called to invite me to a marketing conference with an intriguing title: Social Media/Legal Mashup. He wanted me to hear Gaida Zirkelbach, a lawyer, speak about social media. A lawyer?

Keith told me that she’s fascinating and I’d learn a lot. So, I went. And she was great. My first clue was that half the room was filled with lawyers taking lots of notes. If I ever have a problem, I’ll just call Gaida fast. She’s great. I wish I had a transcript of her presentation but I took notes, too, and here they are:

· Kim Kardashian said that she’d never use Dr. Siegal’s cookie diet, and would never do an unhealthy diet like his. Dr. Siegal filed a lawsuit and you can read all about it here: Kardashian Article

· Apparently the Ann Taylor Company gave a gift to people who blogged nicely about the company. According to the FTC, you must disclose that to readers. I already knew that. A few years back we did a program for American Express auto insurance. Instead of a traditional sales letter, we used a thank you letter from a happy customer. Our creative director edited it, and we sent the writer a small gift from Tiffany’s. We also added this: “I didn’t get paid for this letter, and my original letter was edited but these are my words. The advertising agency sent me a gift from Tiffany’s to thank me.”

· Gaida (and I) encourage you to read The Digital Milennium Copyright Act.

· Gaida covered a lot of ground quickly. She told us about a woman who spoke badly of her boss on Facebook. Her boss then fired her on her blog. I’ve noticed that people talk freely on Facebook and don’t seem to think that employers or associates might read it. They will, and do!

· There was a fascinating story about Houston’s employees who were griping on Yelp. One of the bosses had gotten onto the site using someone else’s i.d. The employees sued him for “invasion of privacy”.

· Gaida urged us to manage risk in social media by putting together policies for employees. She mentioned the Communications Decency Act, and her parting words were “think before you print”. I think she meant think before you post.

Late one night I was tweeting about my sick cat, Mortimer. One of my followers said that she didn’t care about my cat, and why would I think anyone would? This was followed by a firestorm of people tweeting support for Mortimer. They probably “unfollowed” her.

Reviewed by Lois Geller

Reading this book reminded me of something and it tugged at the back of memory until it burst through.
Keats!

195 years ago, John Keats wrote a sonnet called On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer. Chapman was George Chapman and his translations of Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad struck Keats as rather splendid:

“… I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold:
Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his ken;”

That’s how I feel about Tamar Weinberg’s new book about Marketing on the Social Web and if I could write like Keats I’d compose a sonnet to her on the spot, perhaps borrowing those lines :

“… I heard Chapman Weinberg speak out loud and bold:
Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his her ken;”

It’s that kind of book, an eye opener, a gentle slap to the back of the head.

Just as Keats had read other translations of Homer, I’d read other books about the Social Web and I am on Twitter, Plaxo, Ecademy, Facebook and LinkedIn and I thought I was doing pretty well with them.

Then that new planet swam into my ken and I realized I’d been a village blacksmith tinkering with a jet engine.

This book is so comprehensive, that I learned about StumbleUpon (still not sure how that works), and delicious.com and RSS feeds, bookmarking and whole new worlds I’d only heard about. The 346 page volume is packed with all kinds of new opportunities, for people like me who love marketing.

Tamar (I don’t know her but I hope to be on a first name basis some day) starts from the start assuming her readers know nothing about the Social Web, and, compared to her, that’s a good bet no matter what readers think they know.

She holds your hand and in tight, readable prose walks you through this Wonderland. She tells you that it is really conversation marketing. She tells you how to do it (or get it done), how to get photos and video on social sites, what language to use (and not use), how to build your reputation and your following, and, most of all and dear to the heart of this direct marketer, how to use social sites to sell.

She tells you who’s already miles ahead of you (and why) and not to worry because you can catch up in no time – if you pay attention to Tamar, my new BFF.

Get this book, read it, read it again, keep it by your side and grow rich in your pajamas, working online at home, having fun and making friends even if you’re the marketing head of a Fortune 500 company.

P.S. I went to a local Barnes & Noble to buy a copy for my client, and they were sold out. That’s another good sign.

This year I spoke about the power of Social Media, sites like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. One of the things I like about the social media world is that in many ways it’s like direct marketing on steroids – faster, more intimate, and easier-to-measure.

I was amazed that many in the audience didn’t know about Twitter or LinkedIn. Some had Facebook accounts for showing family photos.

I spoke about strategy and how to drive followers from Twitter to Facebook and then to your blog. As people get to know you, the more likely it is that they will do business with you, especially in b2b.
The title of my talk was How to get Tons of Free Advice on the Internet. I showed them how I floated questions on LinkedIn and received dozens of great answers from leading lights in our field.

My enthusiasm for this subject is over the top because I have a great time meeting people online. The Merit audience wanted to know the basics. I was amazed that with all of the publicity around these programs (how did Obama win the election? Social Media) that they hadn’t at least tested the waters. After all, it is all free.
My takeaway was:
· Many people in business are depressed. They’re worried about their companies and their jobs.

· They are waiting for business to come back as it has in the past.

· They are marketing conservatively, doing what they’ve done (just mailing less).

My advice to them and you:
· Develop the right attitude now! If you stay positive and keep on truckin’ – trying new ideas – something is a bound to work for you.

· If you just wait for business to come back, as it has before, it might not. Go after any piece of business that has a chance to pay off for you. (I call it the Dandelion Theory.) Blow out as many programs as you can, and one will take root. Maybe more.

· Now is the time to think creatively. Tell people about the benefits ofy our product or service, as if you were recommending it to a friend. Skip the rhetoric. Talk like a human being and tell your prospects why they should buy it now.

· Don Libey at the conference said, WAYMISH. Why are you making it so hard for your customer to buy from you? Make it easy on your website, on the phone, on your direct mail. Short is best.

And, let me know how you’re doing. Visit me at twitter.com/loisgeller at LinkedIn: Lois Geller, Facebook: Lois K. Geller and by email: loisgeller@loisgellermarketinggroup.com Easy, huh?

So, we started testing mail, then obtaining email addresses. We tested emailing people to visit us on Facebook, and then gave them special offers there. Little by little, over the last few years, we’ve gone from a direct mail agency, to an online group that builds websites, maintains the relationships our clients have iwth their customers via social media…and are testing some great new strategies. We’re having fun.

If we’d stayed in our old niche, we probably wouldn’t be growing as fast.

Then I read a piece about Newsweek reinventing itself in The New York Times. Their transformation is amazing: a new, smaller format, interesting new design…and a more afluent readership. They aren’t going to cover the big events any more (like the U.S. Airways flight that glided into the Hudson River). They are gambling on an audience that will pay more for a new “offbeat take” on events. Will it work?

Time will tell.

That happened to me last week, when I was invited to speak in Europe at a conference, and I was on a conference call, and perhaps my response was a bit curt. The sponsor of the event thought I was mean…and didn’t even appreciate her offer (which I did). I’ve been wanting to speak in Prague for a while, and when the invite came in…I just blattered out my questions. And, she was gone. I missed out, and felt awful about it.

My Mom used to say, “think before you speak”, and if you’re angry, “sleep on it” before responding. You’ll feel altogether different in the morning. And, I usually do that. When the poor Prague woman wrote, I didn’t.

Joe Biden also had a foot in the mouth disease last week when he accidentally blurted out that there is a secret bunker under the old U.S. Naval Academy. That is the bunker where they hid Cheney, when 9/11 happened. Well, it is not a secret anything anymore. If only he’d thought,, waited, considered before he said it. Michelle Malkin talks about it on her blog today

Guess we should all think about this on Twitter and Facebook… and email.

I have HootSuite, and Twitter my comments on a timely basis, and answer everyone…and maybe it is doing something for my agency…but I’m not sure yet. I spent a lot of time on it over the weekend, and then looked at my results.

It was amazing for me to see that the one tweet that got the highest response was one I wrote about direct mail, sending people to Michael McCormick’s blog, http://gutsofaburglar.com

The funny thing about that is …our agency still gets most of our new business from targeted direct mail programs.  We weave a great story into a letter, include an offer and a time limit…and Voila! People call us.

Of course, I know that Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr will all eventually work for us too. It is just a matter of testing different strategies. The important thing is to build relationships and the best way to begin that is to work on a “knowledge level”,
understanding who your prospect is, and something about him/her. These social media sites help us that way, because when you read someone’s tweets …you get to know them better.

So, keep on Twittering, and Facebooking, and emailing…and always remember to continue to test the “tried and true” direct mail program. It will work even better now, because our mailboxes at home and at work…are really quite empty.

Meanwhile, visit me on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/loisgeller

They are looking at DM (Direct Marketing) because it is a science, and you can track your results. In the years that I worked at major agencies, many clients looked down their noses at DM, as if their product or service was to “high end” to be sold in that way. Now, things have changed.

First the internet changed the direct relationship between buyers and brands. Now prospects can comparison shop, look at products closely and buy them immediately. It is really direct mail…on steroids.

Second, the luxury brands realize that word-of-mouth advertising is a key element of their success, so they’re popping up on websites, and on social media…like Facebook and Twitter.

Third, Luxury brands want to know what their ROI is, and what’s working and what isn’t. They can’t always see the results of on-page advertising, or even their commercials. In direct mail, email, or website…you see the stats right away ,and can tell how many are converting to sales now. In this time of economic uncertainty…DM is a science that can provide measurable results, and that’s what they’re looking for now.

The second speaker last night is a fascinating man, named Stephen Kraus, who works for the Harrison Group, a market research firm. He’s a co-author of a new book, entitled The New Elite, Inside the minds of the truly wealthy.

He told us about the many faces of the American rich and the diverse factors that drive this high end customer (like the fact that a large percentage of them shop at Target and love Costco). I’m looking forward to reading his book.

All in all, it was an interesting evening. I met an old friend there from New York: Susan Schein, and there was quite a large crowd of really nice marketers at the event.