In case you haven’t noticed, it’ been a little quiet around here. Yes, I’ve been pretty busy, but that had never stopped me before.

I think somewhere in the last few months blogging has become “something I really should do” as opposed to “something I really want to do” and that’s a problem. When I started this blog 3 years (!!!) ago, the social media blogging scene was really taking off. It was an exciting time to get into the field because it felt like we were continually breaking new ground and building on the foundation of the ideas that hold up “social media” as a business element.

For those of you that printed out your first weblog posts on dot-matrix printers, that might seem like bright-eyed idealism or rosy retrospection, but it’s honestly how it felt to me. I’m sure the echo chamber was going back then, but, at least to me, it seems like it’s become much worse. So often it feels like the same content and ideas are being rehashed, linked and retweeted so much, that it’s hard to find anything new.

To me, this is where we’re missing the point. The beauty/power of social media lies in what it means and what it does, not what it is. There are much broader issues than how to get a million twitter followers and the right stuff to put on your facebook fan page. Those things are important insofar as they are tactics that support a strategy, but still, they don’t really push my thinking like they used to. Lucky for you there are many, many bloggers out there who do that type of thing better than I ever did.

Which brings us to the point (finally). If you’re skipping down, you can start reading here.

Essentially, A New Marketing as it has existed these past 3 years will no longer be. Don’t be alarmed though, this doesn’t mean I’ll stop writing. In fact, I’ll probably be doing it more.

MattJMcD.com will now become my true home on the web. A new site will go up (relatively) shortly where I’ll be able to explore more of my interests in depth, which definitely still include marketing, tech, etc. but also pop culture, gaming, sports, and anything else that gets me jazzed up. I like to think of it as a more well-rounded MattJMcD experience. (ha!)

However, I do realize that some of you may only be interested in the marketing end of things, so don’t worry, I’ll make sure it’s easy to separate that content out.

Either way, I’m excited for this transition and am looking forward to the new opportunities and challenges that come with launching a new blog. Stay tuned and be on the lookout for MattJMcD via The Internet via MattJMcD.

As always, thanks for reading.

1) Something about Twitter.

2) Something about “Social Media Gurus”

3) Something about something we all think might be better than Twitter but fades really fast.

4) Something Google, Apple, or Microsoft.

5) Something bitching about social media.

6) Something really cool we don’t even know about yet!

7) Something that includes a list with a bunch of stuff we all already know but it makes for great link-bait.

I just don’t like tooting my own horn for a few reasons: primarily because my mom taught me never to brag, but also because “tooting your own horn” sounds kind of wrong.

But there are always exceptions to the rules, especially when a great opportunity comes up. An opportunity like the Assistant Content Manager position at BFG Communications. For this opening, BFG has asked that to apply we use social media, and use it I will.

At the risk of flagrant horn-tooting, I believe I would be a great fit for this position. I eat, sleep, and breathe marketing (yes, I know I’m a nerd), I have a pretty rich history in social media (blogging since 4/07, on Facebook since 10/04, on Twitter since 10/07), and I have solid experience in the interactive space (I’ve worked with great companies/agencies as a freelance digital marketing consultant and account manger on everything from social strategy to SEO, and A New Marketing is listed in the Social Media section of Alltop.com). Also, I’m a snappy dresser, and that’s got to count for something.

If you’d like a better idea of my thinking/ideas, I’ve lined up some posts below. We’ll call it my Greatest Hits, just without the awkward album cover photo.
- A Definitive Explanation of Social Media
- Simple Social Media Truths
- We Are Our Own Worst Enemy
- A Brand Purpose Model
- Your Brands Checklist For Twitter
- Elements of Digital Trust
- The 4 C’s – The New Marketing Mix
- What Community Looks Like

And you can find my resume here.

So…

If you’re not with BFG… Help me out by tweeting the following “Hey @BFGCom I think @MattJMcD is the right man for your ACM position!” or leave some love in the comments below.

If you’re with BFG… I’d love to talk to you more about this position. Feel free to get in touch with me any time. Let’s do it!

As you might know, I do digital strategy and marketing consulting. Since I’ve been in marketing, I’ve worked with everyone from Fortune 500 companies to sole-proprietorships, seven-figure budgets to non-profits. With projects including social media presence and content creation, branding, blogging, pay per click advertising, and general brand strategy.

The bottom line is I want to help you rock out (mainly marketing-wise, but am open to anything). Whether you have a project ready to go or just want to chat about some ideas, I’d love to talk to you about what you have going on and how I can help you achieve your goals.

Let’s do it. Email me at MattJMcD[at]gmail[dot]com

But that’s just me. How do you feel about this stuff? What’s your take on the shifting focus of a blog? How have you grown changed as an author or a reader?

Fire away.

It’s easy to get all sentimental. But it’s way more fun to rock!

-What Community Looks Like – 2/11/09
-Too Many Chiefs… – 1/22/09
-A Brand Purpose Model – 1/12/09
-Simple Social Media Truths – 12/18/08
-Common Mistakes In Starting A Blog – 11/24/08
-Your Brands Checklist For Twitter -10/6/2008
-If You Say “Leverage” You Might Get Punched In The Face – 8/20/08
-A Definitive Explanation of Social Media – 8/3/08
-The New Marketing Chaos Theory – 12/4/07
-Believe in Halo 3 Marketing – 9/29/07
-One Line Marketing Wisdom – 7/25/07
-What They Don’t Know, Won’t Brand You – 7/17/07
-The 4 C’s – The New Marketing Mix – 5/15/07

Here’s to the future…

Although she has a degree in Special Education from Rowan University and had worked as a teacher for several years, her skill set goes far beyond education, branching into community building/leadership, online public relations, and event organization.

In the early days of America Online (I’m talking the 2.0 days, if you can remember them) my Mom knew that this whole “internet” thing was going to be something big. She got a job with AOL as a Community Leader and played a key roll in developing the (at the time) thriving AOL community, and also moderated live-chat events with many big name guests (even Bill Nye the Science Guy!).

AOL eventually phased out many in their community leader program, and my Mom, still on the front edge, began a career in the fledgling field of internet PR. She was brought aboard an alternative health company named J2S2 which was later renamed Healant. With J2S2/Healant she was in charge of organizing many of their online efforts including the early days of online press releases, developing key contacts within other major sites, growing the online alternative health community with her company as a major player, and even helping to organize major events online such as the Great American Smoke-Out.

Eventually she left J2S2/Healant to pursue her career as a signer/songwriter (which she had put on hold due to my brother and myself) and has put out one great album with another coming. Check out her music here on SoundClick.com

Professional experience aside, my mother is one of the best communicators out there. She’s extremely intelligent, diligent, ambitious, innovative, and if you think I’m outgoing, you should spend some time with her! I’m sure that she would be an asset to any PR team.

Recently she attended PodCamp Philly 2008, where I was speaking, and expressed her interest to get back into Online PR and I figured who better to throw it out to than my fantastic readers!

I know my Mom could be an asset to your PR team. She’s available to work remotely or in the Philadelphia area. If you’d like to talk with her, feel free to email her at BarbaraMcDonald@aol.com or you could email me and I could pass it along.

Thanks Mom! Happy Birthday!

Social Media on Alltop!

I’m really excited about this. Late last week I was chosen by the good people over at Alltop to be a part of their Social Media section. I’m pretty honored to be in such esteemed company. They’re the big guns, people.

Age of Conversation 2!

So pumped for the new AOC! Hopefully you’ll all rush like wild-people to pick up a copy when it comes out. And then immediately hit up my chapter entitled “i>I”. Check out the new cover by David Armano. Head here for the details.

Some posts to blow your mind.
Some of the best from this past week

-Help Us, Help You – Marketing In Traffic by Brian Branca
-Stuff that i learned on tour: workplace culture. – Darryl Ohrt at Brand Flakes For Breakfast
-Hate to tell you, but Web 1.0 was social too. – by “The Verdino”
-If You Can’t Beat Them, Be Them? – by David Armano
-Introducing The Conversation Prism – by Brian Solis
-Kids Still Love TV. (Ice cream too) – by Alan Wolk at The Toad School

I didn’t bring my camera with me because I knew there would be people there that were better photographers with better cameras. Which you’ll find is completely true if you check out the Flickr Group.

So I’m going to approach the whole “lessons learned” thing in the very same way. There are better writers with better blogs that can fill you in on the all the goodness. As of this writing I’d check out (if I missed you, let me know) John Wall, Amanda Gravel, CK, Steve Woodruff, Lori Magno, Darryl Ohrrt, and yes even Verdino.

But I will say this. There is absolutely no substitute for face-to-face interaction. (F2F? idk my bff jill?) No matter how great the tools get on the web, no matter how many times they let us “connect” with people, it’s all just preamble to really meeting someone.

photo credits shashi, verdino

Adam Crowe, Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob Carlton, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Bradley Spitzer, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Clay Parker Jones, Chris Brown, Colin McKay, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Cord Silverstein, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Goldstein, Dan Schawbel, Dana VanDen Heuvel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Darryl Patterson, Dave Davison, Dave Origano, David Armano, David Bausola, David Berkowitz, David Brazeal, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Emily Reed, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, G. Kofi Annan, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Graham Hill, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, J.C. Hutchins, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeremy Middleton, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, Joe Talbott, John Herrington, John Jantsch, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Flowers, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kris Hoet, Krishna De, Kristin Gorski, Laura Fitton, Laurence Helene Borei, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Barnes-Johnston, Louise Mangan, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Marcus Brown, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Mark McSpadden, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Hawkins, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Monica Wright, Nathan Gilliatt, Nathan Snell, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul Marobella, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Beeker Northam, Rob Mortimer, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Cribbett, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tiffany Kenyon, Tim Brunelle, Tim Buesing, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Longhurst, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem