Archive for jason falls

The Rules of Social Media Debunked

March 30, 2012 / Michael Stelzner / No comments

social media expert interviewIn this video I interview Jason Falls, co-author of No Bullshit Social Media: The All-Business No-Hype Guide and founder of Social Media Explorer.

Jason talks about the rules of social media and what to do to find the social media best practices you need for your business.  He also shares insights into how small businesses can manage everything on social media.

Be sure to check out the takeaways below after you watch the video.

Here are some of the things you’ll learn in this video:

  • How to identify which advice to follow on social media
  • How to find out the best times to post your content on social media
  • Why you need to know your business and understand your audience
  • How tools like Spredfast, Expion and Argyle Social work with Facebook
  • Why you need to listen to your community first

Connect with Jason on Twitter @jasonfalls and check out Social Media Explorer and his social media community, Exploring Social Media.

What do you think? Are there social media rules and best practices that fit all types of companies? How do you establish social media best practices for your business? Please share your comments below.


Category: Expert Interviews, exploring social media, jason falls, michael stelzner, no bullshit social media, social media best practices, social media explorer, social media rules, social media updates, Videos /

Businesses to Fully Embrace Social Media In 2012

March 6, 2012 / Patricia Redsicker / No comments

social media reviewsThe vast majority of Americans are actively using social media. Has your business acted on this fact?

Are you looking for a way to keep pace with the quickly evolving field of social media marketing?

If so, Social Media Examiner has some exciting news…

But first, consider this story.

Imagine your business competing for your state’s “Best Brand” title against huge names such as Target, Dairy Queen and Wheaties.

Now imagine simply leveraging the power of social media and taking the grand prize! Wouldn’t that just blow your mind?

Well that’s exactly what happened to Creative Memories!

This Minnesota-based scrapbook supplies company beat 64 other brands to take the “Best Brand in Minnesota” title! And they simply relied on social media to make it happen.

creative memories scrapbooking

Creative Memories won Minnesota's Best Brand by leveraging their existing fans via social media.

Recognizing the Opportunity

Creative Memories’ community manager Kristen Jacobs discovered a single tweet as she was monitoring Twitter for mentions of her company.

It turned out the Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal was hosting a brand challenge. And one of America’s biggest retailers—Target—was in the running! Target had nearly 5 million Facebook fans at the time.

Jacobs’ immediate response was to post the article on their Twitter and Facebook pages, calling on their 60,000 fans to vote for them.

creative memories twitter

Creative Memories learned first on Twitter about the Minnesota Brand Challenge competition.

Creative Memories’ fans not only responded, but also voted for them repeatedly through six rounds of the competition against nationally acclaimed brands until Creative Memories emerged the winner of “Minnesota’s Best Brand.”

“We learned that we may not be as recognized, have as many customers or make as much money as the brands we were up against, but we do have something none of them have. And that’s the ability to use social media to mobilize a passionate fan base to action when needed,” said Jacobs.

Now you might be wondering, “How did the community manager know what to do, or how to respond?”

That’s a great question. But think about this: “What would have happened if she hadn’t responded or hadn’t known what to do?”

To be successful in social media, you need to know what to do when an opportunity knocks.

More than ever, it’s critical to keep up with social media changes, to stay competitive and to learn the tactics and strategies that produce the best results and the greatest return for your business.

Has your business tapped the massive opportunities presented by social media marketing?

Recent Statistics on Social Media Adoption

Here are a few reasons why you should invest heavily in social media:

Mass adoption of social media: Nearly 80% of all active U.S. Internet users regularly visit social media sites (Nielsen). And while consumers spend 25% of their Internet time on social sites, Facebook has become the most visited website in the world. Your customers are there.

Social media benefits businesses: Among marketers who include social media as part of their overall strategy, 97% agree that it provides benefits and value to their business (eMarketer).

Social media improves branding: In a survey of more than 700 marketers, 88% of respondents found that social media helps grow brand awareness. Social media also benefited marketers by allowing them to engage in dialogue (85%) and increase sales and partnerships (58%). An additional 41% of marketers said it helped reduce costs (Wildfire Interactive).

These stats are just a sample of the power of social media.

Are you “all in” with your social media activities? Want to fast-track your success?

Social Media Examiner Announces Social Media Success Summit 2012

“Social media has changed radically in the last 12 months,” acknowledges Michael Stelzner, (CEO and founder of Social Media Examiner). “Google+ entered the stage, Facebook introduced Timeline for pages, YouTube unveiled their new layout, Twitter got a complete revamp and then there’s Pinterest. It’s a completely different world and there’s a need to discover new strategies and new ways to market your business with these platforms.”

social media success summit 2012To equip you with the latest strategies for marketing with Google+, blogging, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter and Pinterest, Michael Stelzner and the people you trust from Social Media Examiner have recruited 27 of the world’s most respected social media experts to share their newest tips and advice at Social Media Success Summit 2012.

If you’re not familiar with these events, they’re large online conferences (so you don’t need to travel).

Typically, thousands gather at Social Media Examiner Success Summits to discover new social media tactics, network with peers and discover how other successful businesses are using social media.

What People Say About Social Media Success Summit

Last year, 3,000 people attended the online summit.

Some of the organizations represented were Coca Cola, Visa, Microsoft, 3M, Honda, Kraft Foods, SAP, Wells Fargo, Disney, AutoDesk, LexisNexis, Four Seasons Hotels, Fuddruckers, EMC and thousands of small businesses.

Here’s what some of them had to say:

“Thoroughly wowed by the format and content. I will most definitely attend future summits,” Kim Kiefer

“Guaranteed to improve the way you approach social media. I’ll be back next year!” Derrick Sweet

“Phenomenal topics and knowledgeable speakers. The ability to ‘catch up’ on sessions thanks to recordings was a selling point for me due to scheduling,” Erin Caples

“This is the most comprehensive training I have yet seen on social media. The lineup of presenters was most impressive and the whole summit exceeded my expectations,” Suzanne Kiraly

Meet Your Presenters

Among the 27 social media experts who will be presenting at this summit are:

  • Jeremiah Owyang, Altimeter Group
  • Chris Brogan, author of Google+ for Business
  • Mari Smith, co-author of Facebook Marketing: An Hour a Day
  • Brian Solis, author of Engage
  • Scott Monty, head of social media at Ford Motor Company
  • Frank Eliason, author of @YourService
  • Michael Stelzner, founder of Social Media Examiner and author of Launch
  • Jay Baer, co-author of The Now Revolution\
  • Jason Falls, co-author No Bullshit Social Media
  • Mark Schaefer, author of The Tao of Twitter
  • C.C. Chapman, co-author of Content Rules
  • Dave Kerpen, author of Likeable Social Media
  • Jesse Stay, author of Google+ for Dummies
  • Amy Porterfield, co-author of Facebook Marketing All-in-One for Dummies
  • And experts from Dell, Ford, LinkedIn, Citigroup, Citrix and many others.

Why Attend Social Media Success Summit?

Here are a few reasons:

  • Learn the latest and best social media business-building tactics.
  • Learn about tracking and measuring social media return on investment.
  • Learn how to sell with Google+, blogging, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter and Pinterest.
  • Learn how content marketing fits in with social media.
  • You’ll have the opportunity to network via LinkedIn with thousands of people who are expected to attend.
  • You’ll interact live with experts from big B2B and B2C brands such as Ford, Dell, LinkedIn, Citigroup and Citrix.
  • Keep learning even after the summit is over—With the session recordings and the transcripts, you can keep studying the material for up to one year from the date of your ticket purchase.

Want to save some money? If you reserve your spot now, you’ll save 50%. Click here for details.

What do you think? Would you be interested in learning what the world’s top social media experts are doing that makes them so successful? Leave your questions and comments in the box below.


Category: adam brown, amy porterfield, ana white, andrea vahl, brian solis, C.C. Chapman, chris brogan, dave kerpen, frank eliason, james wedmore, jason falls, jay baer, jeremiah owyang, jesse stay, justin levy, kelly lester, kipp bodnar, mari smith, mario sundar, mark schaefer, nichole kelly, patricia redsicker, paul colligan, phyllis khare, Reviews, rich brooks, rick calvert, Scott Monty, Social Media, social media benefits, social media event, social media experts, social media for business, Social Media Marketing, social media return on investment, social media strategies, social media success summit, social media success summit 2012, social media tactics, Social Media Training, success summit /

Social Marketing Trends to Look For in 2012: Predictions from Top Marketers

January 26, 2012 / mlewis1 / No comments
We all wish we had a crystal ball we can consult whenever we need to peek into the future. Short of offering our peers that magic crystal, we connected with some of the best and brightest to ask them to predict what 2012 has in store for us. We compiled the collective wisdom of 34 renowned experts in the field of strategy, marketing and technology in our free eBook: 2012 Social Marketing & New Media Predictions. We asked about the top social marketing developments, new technologies, biggest challenges, and top news resources. Here’s a peek into the biggest social marketing developments you need to prepare for this year. Your magic keyword cloud reads: integration, mobile, new influence, relevancy marketing, social business revolution, real-time analytics, convergence, and trust as a social currency.
Category: 2012, Andrew Patterson, awareness, brian solis, dave peck, david berkowitz, david meerman scott, Debi Kleiman, Digital Leader, Doug Haslam, ekaterina walter, Erik Qualman, Inc., jason falls, jay baer, Jim Storer, Jonas Klit Nielsen, lahey clinic, laura fitton, Lora Kratchounova, Major League Baseball, marc meyer, Mark Lazen, marketingprofs, Matthew Grant, Michael Pace, Mike Lewis, Mobile, pamela johnston, Paul Gillin, predictions, real-time, relevancy marketing, Robert Collins, social marketing strategy, Social Marketing Trends, Social maturity, Social Media, Social Media Breakfast, Social Media Marketing, Socialnomics, Stacy Debroff, Stephen Murphy, steve rubel, Tim Hayden, Top Marketers, Year of integration /

2012 Key Social Technology Predictions from Top Business and Marketing Strategists

January 17, 2012 / mlewis1 / No comments
2011 was a year of increased adoption of social technologies within the enterprise, and that trend will continue into 2012. In their fifth annual survey of over 4,200 global executives, McKinsey concludes that when adopted at scale, “social technologies can boost a company’s financial performance and market share.” To help stay ahead of this wave of change, we connected with 34 top business and marketing strategies to get their take on the key technologies that will impact marketing and sales in 2012 for our free eBook 2012 Social Marketing & New Media Predictions. Here are some of their top predictions:
Category: Awareness, Inc., brian solis, david meerman scott, jason falls, Key Technologies for 2012, Key Technology for 2012, Marketing, Social Marketing, Social Media, Social Media Marketing /

Attacking the Myths of Social Media: An Interview With Jason Falls

October 17, 2011 / Michael Stelzner / No comments

social media book reviewsI recently met with Jason Falls, the founder of Social Media Explorer and co-author of the hot new book, No Bullshit Social Media: The All-Business, No-Hype Guide to Social Media Marketing (Jason co-authored this great new book with Erik Deckers).

Jason also has a past with Social Media Examiner. He was one of our founding contributors.

Mike: Some might think the title of your book is a little edgy for the business world. Share how you came up with it and what you are setting out to accomplish with this new book.

jason falls

@JasonFalls

Jason: Well, when Erik and I sat down last December and started talking about the concept for the book, I was really dead set and determined that we needed to write the “No Bullshit” guide to social media marketing.

The reason that I came up with that concept is that over the past few years, as I was giving talks around the country about social media, I’ve always tried to be very simple and plainspoken in how I explained social media, social media marketing and technology to people.

I’ve also tried to be very sensitive to the fact that businesspeople don’t have time to mess around on social networks. They need to know: “How do I get in? How do I set it up? How do I start using it so that it shows me some results?”, because they’re trying to run their businesses. If we as social media consultants and practitioners and advisors say, “We just want you to experiment and play for six months,” nobody is going to give us the time of day.

I’ve always had that sort of no-nonsense attitude. I would come offstage from talking at conferences and whatnot and people would say, “I really appreciate the fact that you’ve got a really no-bullshit style—that you just get right to the point and tell it how it is and don’t make any apologies for it.” So I listened to my audience. They said, “You’re the no-bullshit guy,” so that’s how the title of the book came about.

no bullshitMike: Let’s talk a little bit about the implication of the title, which is that there’s a lot of crap—misinformation—out there. Maybe you can share a little about why you felt the need to cut straight to the problem that’s going on right now with social media.

Jason: I guess we should take a step back a little bit. We’re calling “bullshit” on what I call the “social media purists” who have been preaching at us for however long this industry has been an industry.

They’ve been preaching to us that social media is all about joining the conversation, it’s all about engaging with your customers, it’s all about listening first and it’s all about providing value to your audience.

Now, this is where we need to draw a very firm line. Erik and I agree with all of those points and pieces of advice. I consider myself to be a social media purist in line with that philosophical thinking. And I have said those things before, and Erik has too, and we believe in them.

But that’s where the social media purists stop. And if you add the word “marketing” to the phrase “social media,” you’re talking about business. You’re talking about making money. You’re talking about driving business. You’re talking about revenue. So where the social media purists stop, we have to take a step further and say, “No, no, no. There’s a lot more to it.”

There are some social media purists over the years who have said things like, “You cannot or should not sell using social media channels.” We’ve got a couple of case studies in the book showing they’ve said things like, “Well, you shouldn’t be pushing marketing messages on your personal Facebook profile because that’s an inappropriate place for that to happen.”

So we went out looking for stories of people who had gone against this social media puritanical advice and had been successful in doing so—to illustrate the point that if all you think social media is about is joining the conversation, engaging, holding hands in a circle and singing “Kumbaya,” then you’re not going to be in business very long. Because if you’re not thinking about revenue, if you’re not thinking about approaching it strategically, if you’re not thinking about measuring it, then you’re probably going to fail.

Mike: You and I have had multiple discussions about this over the years, and I’m very glad that you’re addressing this. I believe 100% that there is a place for business, marketing and sales specifically in social media. I think that, hopefully, a lot of those purists will eventually wake up and see that there’s a place for that.

You mentioned “Kumbaya,” and in your book you mentioned the Kumbaya Effect. Can you define what that is and maybe we can dig a little deeper into what we need to know about it?

Jason: The Kumbaya Effect is where a person or company gets lost in the warm-and-fuzzy of social media: “Oh, we love engaging with our customers, and we love sitting on Facebook and Twitter and chitter-chattering all day.” That’s fine—there’s nothing wrong with enjoying it. Part of what makes social media fun is that you’re having one-to-one conversations and you’re engaging with your customers.

But if you get lost in the euphoria of being social and forget to be aware of your business, then you lose traction, you lose market share and you lose the opportunity to make money.

Every single business owner out there will tell you, if they know anything at all about their own business, “If I’m not doing something every moment of the day that’s going to lead to revenue, then I’m failing myself. I’m failing my business.”

So in terms of providing content and having conversations with people online as business folks, we need to make sure that we are consumer-centric. I’m not saying that we need to immediately just start dropping links to buy our stuff all the time. That’s not the point.

The point is we need to continue to be social, we need to continue to join the conversation and we need to continue to be consumer-centric. But we have to be business-aware—because if we’re not and we get lost in the euphoria, if we fall victim to the Kumbaya Effect, then we lose sight of our goals and we lose sight of what we need to do to drive our businesses.

Mike: You and Erik have done some research and discovered some businesses that are doing things that go against the grain of the purists. Can you mention one example of a business, big or small, that you think is doing something positive that’s actually generating results?

Jason: Last year for Christmas, my mother, Sara George, wanted a remote car starter, so she wouldn’t have to go out and sit in the car for 10 minutes on cold mornings. So my wife and I sent her a check and said, “It would be better if you have it installed where you live as opposed to us doing it here in Louisville,” which is three and a half hours away. “So here’s your check. Go and get your remote car starter.”

A few weeks after Christmas, she wakes up one morning—it’s really cold—and she goes on Facebook to check what’s going on before she goes to work.

She sees a message from a gentleman by the name of Greg Tackett. Now, she and Greg Tackett are acquaintances probably at best, but they live in a small town in eastern Kentucky. So in a small town, the context is a little different. They probably would say hello to each other walking down the street. They know each other well enough to do that, and so they’re connected as friends on Facebook.

Well, Greg Tackett posts a message on his personal Facebook wall, not on a brand page or anything like that, that says something along the lines of, “Come and get your remote car starter for these cold mornings at Tackett’s Custom Audio Car Stereo Place.” I can’t remember the exact name of the business.

Immediately, social media purists who had seen that flipped out: “Oh, you can’t sell via social media. You can’t put marketing messages on your Facebook personal profile. That’s against the rules. That’s wrong. You can’t do that. You’re a spammer!”

How would you think she responded to that message?

Mike: I think she probably would have said, “Wow, that’s exactly what I need!”

Jason: Exactly! She responded to the message with: “Can I make an appointment for Thursday?”

Even better, the viral nature of Facebook (and this is what you have to really think about) and the context of this man, Greg Tackett, putting that post on his personal wall, increases his likelihood of generating business.

Most of his personal friends live in the same small town. They know him, they know he has children to feed and they know he runs an auto aftermarket shop. And they know it’s cold outside, right? They saw his post and they saw my mother’s activity, and I think there were 12 or 13 people in that conversation thread who said, “I want one too.”

We did the math on that one Facebook wall post on Greg Tackett’s personal page, which was against all the rules of the social media purists. If all of those people had come and purchased a remote car starter that week—which I know my mother did, and several others probably did too—that one wall post generated about $4,000 in revenue for him.

Mike: That’s cool. You mentioned one of the myths earlier: that you can’t sell and you can’t make money with social media. Give me another big myth that you see businesses falling prey to when it comes to social media.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf7neIONxVs


Watch this video from the authors

Jason: I think that probably the biggest myth of them all is that you can’t measure it.

Despite the fact that there are a number of people out there now finally talking about the measurement, quantification and qualification of what all of this means, you still have businesses out there asking, “How can I measure how much I’m getting out of Twitter or Facebook? I don’t control those websites. I’m not selling anything there. I’m just having my employees spend time there. What does it all mean?”

I think that obviously asking the measurement question first is missing the point because typically you don’t measure what you don’t have. So you have to start out by saying, “First of all, what do we want to accomplish?” You need to set your goals first.

In the book, we talk about that myth of not being able to measure social media return.

The case study that we use in the book is actually about a brand that people have maybe heard about, but it’s a different scenario. Some folks have maybe heard of the Fiskateers website, which is a scrapbooking online community for the Fiskars brand of scissors.

Without going into too much detail, basically it’s a community of scrapbookers, a branded community, by invitation only. They have about 8,000 members who are avid scrapbookers. Fiskars, the scissors company, sends them samples and gets feedback from them, and so on.

Fiskars developed an 8,000-member community of people passionate about scrapbooking and almost equally as passionate about Fiskars scissors because Fiskars was providing this community for them. Fiskars thought, “We’ve got 8,000 people online who will do anything we ask them to do. Let’s send prototypes and have the community test them. Let’s get product and feature adjustment ideas from them, and let’s let the community decide what the next version of our scissors is going to look like.”

Because they have an 8,000-member focus group at their fingertips, they’ve cut and trimmed their research and development budget. They no longer have to go out and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars with intricate market research focus groups and whatnot, figuring out what people want out of their scissors, because they have those people right there.

So, you can measure it. You just have to have a plan first. You have to know what you’re trying to accomplish so that you can then say, “Okay, how much money did we make? How much money did we save? Are our customers happy?” Those are the three things that CEOs really care about.

Mike: You mentioned earlier selling with social media, and you made it very clear through your examples and discussion that yes, businesses can sell with social media. What I’d like you to do is share a tip or two about how to sell with social media.

Jason: The first thing you need to think about and understand is that when you’re selling things, you’re not just selling through social media, so you want to make sure that you have a comprehensive go-to-market sales strategy. Whether you’re a brick-and-mortar store, you sell virtual products, you sell things online or whatever, you need to think of this not in terms of a social media strategy, but also as a sales strategy overall.

Within the confines of social media, as it were, what you need to think about is that you want to have a point to every communication. The point is always: what is your call to action? What are you trying to get people to do?

When you’re in an informal conversation with a customer, it doesn’t mean you need to drop a link, “Click this and buy,” on everything you say. But you need to make sure that throughout your day, you are constantly following through with the point of your communication. Maybe that’s to register for an upcoming webinar, download a white paper or sign up for your e-newsletter. It’s moving the consumer further down into the marketing funnel.

You have to think about a point that drives people to action—to buy, download, reserve, call or something of that nature. I think that you can do that both in calls to action on your blog and calls to action on Facebook posts.

A perfect example is Dell Outlet, the Twitter account for Dell’s overstock situations. They’ve treated that account differently over the years, but at times, it’s just been a never-ending stream of links for you to click on and get discounts on products. But they have enough people out there who are interested in their products that they can do that. If you have an audience that says, “Pizza joint, I just want coupons and that’s all I want,” then just make your Twitter stream coupons.

Mike: Jason, it’s been a very interesting discussion, to say the least. Where can folks go to learn more about your new book, No Bullshit Social Media, and to learn more about you?

Jason: The book website is www.NoBullshitSocialMedia.com. We tried to make that pretty easy for people to remember. There, you’ve got links to where you can purchase it at Que Publishing, Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

You can also get a free sample chapter as well, so if you read the first chapter and decide that it’s not for you, then you can save a little money and not buy the book. But I think most people will probably find it appealing and will want to buy it.

Kindle and Nook versions are out as well. The electronic versions can be purchased on various websites and apps where you get those. And it should be in most bookstores across the country now as well.

Then as far as I go, I’m @JasonFalls on Twitter. I’m typically Jason Falls on most social networks. I’m happy to connect with folks there. And then www.SocialMediaExplorer.com is my blog and company website where a couple of other writers and I try to keep us all on our toes thinking about the issues of the day in the social media world.

Mike: I encourage everyone to go out there and read the sample chapter of Jason’s book and pick up a copy.

Jason, thank you so much for making time for me today. I really appreciate this interview.

Jason: Anytime, Michael. I love you, and it was great being a part of helping www.SocialMediaExaminer.com get off and running a couple of years ago and I love coming back.

Listen to our complete extended interview below to hear more about Jason’s experience writing the book and his thoughts on Google+ and Facebook competition.

Click here to download MP3.

What do you think about Jason’s no-nonsense attitude? What are your thoughts on his “No Bullshit” guide to social media? Leave your comments in the box below.


Category: book review, Expert Interviews, jason falls, michael stelzner, no bullshit social media, Reviews, Social Media Marketing, social media myths, social media purist /

Ten Qualities of Social Media Superstars – Featuring 32 Leaders

June 9, 2011 / Mari Smith / No comments

A social media superstar is a person who has reached a certain level of industry leadership and success, in the eyes of his/her fans, followers and peers. And, these leaders naturally possess the ten qualities detailed in this post. Most of these characteristics transcend industries, and many of them transcend those who have or are striving to attain “superstar” status. But, those individuals who have all ten of these qualities are most likely people who are out there doing an amazing job of truly making a big difference in the world of social media and beyond.

Last week, I lead a free webinar discussing these qualities and featuring the 32 leaders I chose to spotlight. The webinar was attended by over 800 live participants; the replay has been viewed more than 1,000 times, and the slides have over 5,000 views on SlideShare. A popular topic for sure! You can gain instant access to the replay of the webinar here, and view the slides below. Plus, keep reading further for details of the ten qualities, featuring 32 social media leaders!

Ten Qualities of Social Media Superstars – Presented by Mari Smith

In each of the ten qualities below, I’ve highlighted some of my favorite social media superstars – every one of which I personally know, and feel that they embody all ten of the qualities, not just the section(s) in which I feature them. I could easily add many more wonderful leaders here; this list is by no means exhaustive. Feel free to recommend your own favorite superstars for any one or more of the qualities in the comments section!

#1 – Humility

Leaders who are clearly very humble are the most attractive and the most engaging. By attractive, I mean people feel naturally *drawn* to them. We feel more relaxed and open around humble people. These individuals love to shine the spotlight on others but tend to shy away from having the light shining on them personally too much.

Check in on your own humility. I recommend before sharing anything on any platform, ask yourself, “What is my deepest intent?“ Sometimes it’s important to sit with that question for a bit to make sure you’re coming from the right place.

My social media picks for those who exemplify humility are:

Erik Qualman - talented author of Socialnomics and producer of brilliant viral videos, Erik is always gracious and has time for everyone.


Scott Monty – one of Ford’s best assets, Scott is admired by many. He’s super kind and super savvy.


Shashi Bellamkonda – I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Networked Solutions’ “social media swami” for many years. Along with his expertise, he’s extremely helpful. (He once went totally out of his way to help me track down a lost camera at Las Vegas airport!)


These individuals are so humble, they may even balk at being called “superstars!” Plus, if you’ve ever met Tony Hsieh — CEO of Zappos and author of Delivering Happiness — and heard him give a presentation, he really epitomizes humility in a leader. I’ve been blessed to share the stage with Tony five times now over the years! My friend Jim Kwik has a very similar disposition to Tony; Jim is currently working on his book called The Art of Warmth.

#2 – PASSION!

Regardless of your career, in an ideal world, you want to get paid for what you’re really, truly passionate about!! The one name that always comes to mind when thinking of unbridled passion in the social media world is my friend:

Gary Vaynerchuk – Gary has monetized social media with his exuberant personality and genuine love of people! I’m honored to call him a friend.


It’s important to share your passion in your own way!! It’s not about trying to be like Gary; rather, making sure your life – and hopefully your business too – is a vibrant expression of your passion!

#3 – An INCLUSIVE attitude

To be a good leader, especially in the social media industry, having a non-competitive, inclusive approach works very well. A social media superstar with an inclusive approach will happily recommend and endorse his/her peers. You will often see them retweeting and promoting other social media professionals – who could easily be seen as their competition by others. These leaders treat everyone as equals. They don’t put others on pedestals and don’t like to be put on a pedestal themselves.

Those leaders who have this type of non-competitive, inclusive attitude are:

Jay Baer – a super-savvy and real down-to-earth guy, Jay is very welcoming and kind to everyone.


Brian Solis – if you’ve ever met Brian, you know he has a wonderful disposition. He’s also one of the most talented thought leaders and futurists in the social media world and beyond.


Jeremiah Owyang - I first met Jeremiah in 2007 and he’s always been very sweet and personable. Along with Brian Solis, Jeremiah is one of the brilliant minds in the social media industry. It was an honor to have him lead the opening keynote for the Social Media Success Summit 2011.


There are many more, too. Who would you add? Make your suggestions in the comments section below! :)

You may have heard sayings like, “Be yourself because everybody is already taken,” and one of my favorites from Dr. Seuss, “There’s nobody youer than You!” There are nearly seven billion people on the planet (close to one billion of us are on Facebook!), and we are all uniquely different. Yes, you need to differentiate yourself. At the end of the day, people do business with people they know, like and trust. Even if you offer an identical product or service as other businesses, the right clients will be drawn to you because of who you are.

#4 – Engaging

As Brian Solis talks about in his latest book, Engage, business have to “engage or die.” In other words, it’s crucial to your success to be responsive to your community. Audiences don’t want to be talked “at” and get bombarded with marketing messages. True leaders in the social media world care deeply about others and it shows by their daily interactions with as many people as possible. My choices for those who engage well are:

Guy Kawasaki - yes, I know Guy is a “firehose” of content, but he’s also very engaging on both Twitter and his Facebook fan page for Enchantment. He’s also a very caring person and certainly walks the talk of being enchanting!


Ekaterina Walter - a talented social media strategist for Intel, Ekaterina is a terrific content producer and curator as well as being a great engager.


Pam Moore – Pam and her husband run a busy social media agency; she writes her own posts and is a popular guest blogger and is also a great engager.


Who would you add — who do you love to engage with on Twitter and Facebook?

#5 – Deep NICHE knowledge

This is where the true differentiation starts to come in. A vast number of people may possess superstar qualities #1 through #4. But, having deep technical knowledge and experience within a specific niche really sets these superstars apart. They are specialists, not generalists. In addition to deep niche knowledge, these leaders also have a great breadth of industry knowledge. And they willingly share their knowledge and happily answer questions for their friends, fans and followers.

Superstars who have carved out a powerful and clear niche include:

Viveka von Rosen – one of my favorite go-to LinkedIn experts.


Beth Kanter – hands-down the top expert for social media for non profits.


Sarah Evans – a PR genius and a super engager.


Steve Garfield – the author of Get Seen and is a talented video marketing expert.


John Haydon – like Beth, John is a master in the area of social media – specifically Facebook – for non profits. He’s my go-to guy in this area!


What I love about niche experts is they are always at the top of my mind whenever I have an opportunity come across my desk – I can confidently pass along opportunities  and leads to these industry specialists.

Who else would you add here? Who comes to mind when someone is seeking a true expert in ______? Fill in the blank!

#6 – A prolific CONTENT producer

Another differentiator: social media leaders create and publish vast volumes of excellent, quality content. The root word of “authority” is “author.” If you want to be an authority in any field, author more – write more! Publish more blog posts, articles, and guest blog posts. Create more information products. Lead more teleseminars, webinars. Speak more. Get your expertise out there in the written and spoken word and you will become known as a prolific, quality content producer!

These leaders also freely share “OPC” – other people’s content. They feature other experts on their blogs, they regularly share other experts’ content on Facebook, Twitter and more.

Some of my favorite quality content creators are:

Ann Handley – and the MarketingProfs team are phenomenal at writing some of the best marketing content. Their studies and in-depth reports are extremely valuable. Ann should be under #1 above too; I’ve had the pleasure of meeting her in person and she’s extremely humble.


Kristi Hines – is just a delight; do check out her blog and her consistently terrific blog posts.


Simply Zesty – my favorite Irish team, Lauren Fisher and Niall Harbison are the brains behind SimplyZesty. Their talented writing often appears on other big blogs like TheNextWeb.


Krishna De – another Irish gem, Krishna’s blog is packed with valuable social media and Facebook marketing tips.


Who are your favorite sources of quality social media content? Let me know in the comments!

#7 – Always add VALUE

Along with creating and curating terrific content, these social media leaders add value with everything they do. They are discerning in what they say; they lift others up, are encouraging and are great listeners. You may often hear people talk about how important it is to “add value.” Adding value comes in many forms – when you’re a source of great knowledge, expertise, resources and support for your community, you’ll have a reputation for someone who adds value.

Some of my top choices for this quality are:

Mark Schaefer – his blog is exceptional, thought-provoking, helpful. Always something new and fresh. And Mark is a super nice guy; he’s always a great source of support.


Cindy Ratzlaff – a longtime friend of mine, Cindy is a savvy branding and book marketing expert along with running her own social media agency. Her breadth and depth of experience always adds value.


Nancy Myrland - Nancy is one of the nicest peeps online; she always has a cheery and helpful word for everyone and publishes great content on her blog too.


Lori Taylor – another bright light in the online world, Lori shares an abundance of helpful social media tips and resources and always has something positive to say.


On the subject of discernment, here’s a great nugget from one of my favorite comedians, fellow Scot, Craig Ferguson:

There’s this idea that people are meaner than they used to be because of the Internet. People are not meaner; they’ve always been mean. It’s just the technology is just *faster!* People have a crazy, angry thought — BOOM!! It’s out. They don’t take time to slow down, self-edit and ask themselves these three questions: 1) Does this need to be said? 2) Does this need to be said by ME? and 3) Does this need to be said by me NOW?

~Craig Ferguson, from his “Does This Need To Be Said” show.

Who do you know that is always adding value by sharing great content as well as being supportive, kind and helpful?

#8 – 100% consistent.

Consistency has three main components in this context: 1) You have a seamless branding image and presence across all platforms. There is a consistent, uniform message that speaks quality. 2) You produce and share content regularly,  ideally daily, through your various social channels. 3) You engage with your network, ideally daily. Over time, you become known as someone who is reliable; you’re trustworthy and can be counted on to always show up.

Three consistently branded, generous leaders are:

Guy Kawasaki - I’m honored to call Guy a friend also; he’s the same everywhere – online, offline. I know Guy is also under quality #4, Engaging. I’ve put him in twice. :)


Danny Brown - a fun, fellow Scottish-Canadian, Danny has a great look and feel to his brand and is a prolific content creator and engager. 


Ann Handley – Ann deserves to be featured twice too; she can be relied upon daily for excellent content + regular connecting.


Who would you add here that exemplifies the quality of consistency?

#9 – A true LEADER

True leaders build people up and encourage them to reach their full potential, no holds barred. The thing is, many people in leadership positions actually hold themselves back from really championing other people, out of a fear that others might leapfrog ahead and surpass them. How sad. In his book, Greater Than Yourself, author Steve Farber talks about how true leaders really build people up.

These leaders are some of my favorites who are highly skilled at building real communities:

Laura Fitton (Founder @oneforty) – Laura is credited with being the person who got Guy Kawasaki on Twitter. Imagine Twitter without Guy! Along with being a published author, Laura created a great platform and community at oneforty.com.


Charlene Li (Founder @altimetergroup) – I’ve always admired Charlene’s talents and leadership style.


Liz Strauss (Founder @sobcon) – a fellow 6′ blonde, Liz is just a delight. She is cofounder of SOBcon (Successful Online Business Conference), a thriving annual event.


Michael Stelzner (Founder @smexaminer) – Mike does a fabulous job of really fostering community among his entire audience and all his guest bloggers on SocialMediaExaminer.com and its Facebook fan page. I first met Mike in 2008 and over the years we have enjoyed a very rewarding business alliance, specifically with the largescale online Summits.


Wendy Piersall (A leader of mom-bloggers) – Wendy is another delightful leader. She has built successful blogs and businesses and her book Mom Blogging for Dummies is coming out next month.


What other leaders do you admire?

#10 – A PROVEN track record

And finally, social media superstars did not just wake up one morning, hang out a shingle and call themselves and expert. Unfortunately, there is a lot of this in the social media industry which can reflect badly on those who have truly earned their stripes. However, I am of the opinion that you never, ever build yourself up by beating others down. Period. One of my favorite quotes is:

The best gift you can give others is the example of your own life working. ~Orin

True leaders – in any industry – have really “earned the right” to be a Superstar. They have put in the long hours of study and practice. They have client case studies and can point to their tangible results spanning many years. Several studies, including by Harvard, show that it takes ten years or 10,000 hours to be a real expert. Malcolm Gladwell, talks about this in his book, Outliers.

Experts have special knowledge of a subject beyond that of the average person. Experts have a prolonged or intense experience through practice and education in a particular field. ~Wikipedia

There is a vast number of experienced professionals in the social media industry with many years’ of experience working with clients and brands of all sizes, writing books and speaking at large conferences. Three of my choices for this quality are:

Brian Solis – a true leader with vast experience and expertise. Take a look at Brian’s popular blog on any given day and also pick up a copy of his book Engage, and you’ll immediately see why Brian is one of the top names in social media. I’ve included Brian twice too! :)


Chris Brogan – has definitely earned his stripes as one of the leaders in the social media world. He and I were recently speaking at a major event in Oslo, Norway and got to spend a fair bit of quality social time together – a first for us in almost four years. It was a joy to get to know Chris better on a personal level.


Jason Falls – a sharp and experienced professional, and all-round fun guy. :)


This list is not intended to be the “definitive” guide for ten qualities or characteristics of social media leaders. These are the ten that I have identified from working in the world of social media as a speaker, trainer and consultant since 2007 and, before that, as an internet and relationship marketing specialist since 1999.

Of course, I have refrained from listing myself anywhere in this post. During and since the webinar I lead last week, many people sent me encouraging and kind messages. I am truly honored. It is my life’s mission to shine the light brightly on you, to bring out the best in you, to support you in being all you can be. If you’re interested in checking out my mentorship program, do take a look here. We begin on June 16 and have a few spaces left. I’d love to work with you if it’s a fit.

You may have other social media superstar qualities that you would add or replace. Please share in the comments below your own perspective on leadership and superstar qualities in the social media industry or otherwise. I’d love to hear from you!

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