Ever heard of a “Blog Pack”? I hadn’t either until yesterday. The basic concept is that people with similar interests all band together in blog-land to help each other out. It is essentially a bloggers networking process. Through this process you join a group that creates a feed file for your RSS Reader called an OPML file (don’t ask, I can’t explain how it works…but it does). You import the file feed into your reader and all the blog feeds from those who join the pack are then created in a separate folder for you to investigate, read, and participate in. This process is intended to build your personal network and introduce you to some like-minded people in your area of interest.

Michael at Remarkablogger wrote an article on the Blog Pack concept and Chris Garrett initiated one this week. Read their articles and as of this morning there is still time to join if you are interested.

In the short time since joining, I have discovered some interesting new blogs that I will likely continue to follow and of course there are ones I will purge from my reader in short order. At this point I already see the benefit for my blogging network as my readers are up and so is my Twitter Feed, so it is a worthwhile venture. I anticipate the benefits will continue going forward as the community develops and I will comment further after some more intereaction with this process.

If you have had a positive or negative experience with a Blog Pack I welcome you to share your story too…

Twitter. A micro-blogging platform. I have been experimenting with it for about 3-weeks now and am starting to form some opinions. At first, I really could not see the business application. Turns out I was looking at it too narrowly. I was thinking, “why would I care if someone was eating cheese cake for dessert“? Frankly, I still don’t care. But it goes deeper than that. It affords the user a unique information flow that becomes personalized in the process.

If you are following like-minded people (in my case primarily marketing or technology folks), you get somewhat personalized access into the knowledge and experience base they hold. Not all tweets have to be laced with wisdom, but each day as I have begun following some thought leaders, I have gained insights into their learning circle by reading online articles that they recommend as they encounter the information first-hand themselves. Most people do not pass on links of stuff that is junk. So, I have found that I am introduced to new material in addition to the blogs I have been reading on my own. This is a refreshing learning process and quite cutting edge.

So here’s what I like:

• Interesting insights on cutting edge topics on-the-fly
• A glimpse into the person behind the blog or the online persona
• Meeting some interesting folks from around the globe - all sharing their wisdom
• Asking a question or seeking feedback from your followers and getting remarkable responses in short-order
• Participating in brief and focused online conversations and feedback exchanges

Here’s what I don’t like:

• People who want to follow you to promote their agenda
• Those who tweet too much (tweets every 5 minutes)
• I still don’t really care for what people are eating for supper

The simple solution to the things I don’t like is to stop following or block those who are irrelevant to my learning experience.

Here is an interesting site to check out for a couple minutes (but it may show you that not everyone is using Twitter the way I am…and that’s OK!): Twitter Vision

Please feel free to enhance my introduction to Twitter by sharing your thoughts and usage experiences and insights. I know I am still scratching the surface with this tech-application and I value your feedback fellow twitterers!

Are you are good talker or a good listener?

When you meet someone for the first time, do you jump in with a whole overview of who you are and what you do? In any relationship, it develops much deeper when you are an active listener rather than an aggressive talker. This works in your personal relationships and it certainly works in your business ones. Take the time to listen twice as much as you speak and you will learn a lot more about your customer. Then, when it’s your turn to talk, they will be more likely to want to hear what you have to say…

The goal has been, and always will be, to find a way to connect with your target audience in a way that is compelling, relevant, and timely. You make it more difficult for yourself, as an organization, when you put a language barrier between yourself and your audience. - Media Rules pp.22 by Reich and Solomon (c)2008

In every organization, profit and non-profit, we create our own internal language. Some organizations are more guilty than others but we are all guilty. This becomes a real problem when we alienate our customers because we integrate that org-speak in into our marketing, sales, or customer service.

We can all think about the org-speak that is unique to our organization or industry. It is a good exercise to review what that terminology is and endeavour to remove this lingo from our connection with customers. Simplify your language and never assume that your customer will have any idea what that internal jargon means. When we learn to speak the language of our customers, there is room for relationship. When we build relationship, we build trust. When we build trust, we are much more likely to get a sale…and that makes everyone feel good!

SPAM. No, not the SPiced hAM. Anyone who has an e-mail account is more than familiar with SPAM. Perhaps more familiar than we would like to be. Did you know that this month {May 2008} is the 30th anniversary of SPAM? Hard to believe. Another fact that is hard to believe is the percentage of SPAM identified the in the Symantec State of SPAM report for May 2008:

Few people in the industry are celebrating spam’s 30th birthday during the beginning of May this year, however the email menace has afforded us an opportunity to review just how prominent it has become. During the month of April, 80% of all email was spam, with that number jumping as high as 87% at times.

WOW! 80+% of all e-mail sent is SPAM. That is outrageous isn’t it? Are you surprised?

The important lesson here revolves around permission based marketing. In your organization, please ensure that you get the permission from your contacts to send them regular e-mails. Get their permission before you send e-newsletters, special offers, or coupons. Also, make sure you never sell or share your e-mail list with anyone. It is a privilege to get an e-mail address from your customer. Treat it as private property and with the highest respect. A simple rule is to treat their e-mail address as you would want your own e-mail treated. None of us likes to have our time wasted or our e-mail address abused. If we remember this in relation to our customers, we will build a much better rapport with them. Essentially, only send them an e-mail if you have something of value to add to their day. Then your relationship is golden!

Please share any of your SPAM or Permission-Based e-mail marketing insights or reactions…