All strategies are note equal – From The Head of Zeus Jones

Cutting Clippings and Musings on The Same – Talent imitates, genius steals (Faris Yakob)

The Ethics of Online Secrecy – The Blog of Mike Arauz

Designing for failure – Alexander Chung

56 Sage Street: the story behind the game – BBH Labs

That’s kids table stuff, right? Everyone knows that, I’m sure. It’s not like we’re asking about dynamic style sheets or to explain the QDF piece of Google’s algorithm.

Just watch.

Sheesh. Like Mitch says, maybe this explains why we get blank stares when we try to explain how Twitter fits into a business plan.

Think about that the next time you’re trying to explain why you should create value by engaging your community, activating your base, and empowering your biggest fans through one-to-one interaction and brand transparency.

If you want to go a little more high-level: Alan Wolk, David Armano, Greg Verdino, Geoff Livingston, Valeria Maltoni

If you want to learn about design/UX: Whitney Hess, A List Apart, I Love Typography, The Dieline

If you want a lesson in passion: Gary Vaynerchuck, Brains On Fire, Hugh MacLeod, Scott Monty

If you want something to think about for the rest of the day: Clay Shirky, Kevin Kelly, Noah Brier

If you want the lighter side: Bill Green, Steve Woodruff, Where’s My Jetpack?, Kaitlyn Wilkins

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7

Hooray for mystery!

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…

Be informative from an ideological standpoint.
This is where you let people know the basic gist of social media. The part where you advocate community building, engagement, interaction, and transparency. The “big picture”, if you will.

Be informative from a practical standpoint.
You can’t just leave it at ideological. No one wants to read posts that just say, “Get out there and be part of the community!” all the time. Great. Now tell us how. Be as specific as possible. Outline steps, metrics for success, ideas to take it a step further. Anything that’s specifically actionable.

Facilitate further learning.
There are no dead ends on the internet. Link out to some other people who have written great content on the subject.

Don’t get all social media is the omg greatest super ever crazy.
Trust me, I get the excitement. But you need to temper your enthusiasm with realistic expectations and understanding. If people are new to the whole idea of social media you don’t want to come off as a street-preacher.

And some good examples (and great posts)
-Finding and embracing your online evangelists in 5 minutes – Mack Collier
-Organic vs. Inorganic Communities – Beth Harte
-Humanizing Your Brand – One Customer at a Time – David Finch
-Will Facebook Be The Death of Twitter? – Alan Wolk

Well, Steve reached out to the community to keep Five In The Morning fresh, and I have to say, some very awesome people have done a great job of that already. And now it’s my turn! On with the show!

Here’s your Five In The Morning for Wednesday January 21st, 2009.

• Robert Prioleau from Charleston digital agency Blue Ion had an interesting post on YouTube Search and how Google might look to monetize. Didn’t realize that YouTube’s search capacity was such a big deal. Wild.
• If you haven’t seen this video from Gary Vaynerchuck about niche celebrities, then you should probably do it now. Do it. Go on, go.
• Here’s a little kick in your social media pants courtesy of Mr. Paul Isakson.
• I’m pretty sure that this isn’t the first time that David Armano has been listed on Five In The Morning, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t earn it. This time, he’s at it again with a great presentation on Thinking Visually.
• And for something completely different, I offer you an entire blog. The Sartorialist.

That’s all for me. But I highly suggest you to grab the feed for Steve’s blog, StickyFigure and follow him on Twitter for some more Five In The Morning Goodness.

Clever wins.

Sure Shocking might get you that first time and you say “Gasp! I have been taken by this shocking marketing message!,” but after that it starts to lose its punch. When you know something shocking is coming, well, it’s not that shocking anymore. Remember those VW commercials? Blew my mind first time I saw it, but after a while you were already braced for impact.

But Clever doesn’t lose it’s appeal the same way. After the “Oh my!” and “Wow!” is gone from the Shocking, people are still thinking about Clever. Clever makes you smile 20 minutes later when you think “Damn, I wish I thought of that!”

So remember, if you want to get people’s attention, be shocking. If you want them to remember your message, be clever.

In honor of the Clever. Here’s a few great things you should read.
- Influencers can be MADE. Passion can’t. – Brains on Fire Blog
- The Brand is in Your Head – Conversation Agent
- My IMS08 session: r u ready? (new video) – Greg Verdino
- Unconventional Marketing – David Armano
- Facebook Group And Brand Page Best Practices – Social Media Explorer
- Please, Sir, May I Have Some More (Budget)? – Scott Monty
- Recession Brass Tacks – The Buzz Bin

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

10 Ways to Build Your Brand in a Weakened Economy – BrandCurve

Social Media Strategy – Aligning Goals and Measurements – Chris Brogan

Missed Marketing Opportunities – Conversation Agent

Has Web 2.0 mainstreamed? – Jaffe Juice

Brands + Amplification = Influence – Logic + Emotion

“Atomize” Your Content: Share in Small Bits – PR Squared

Who Even Are You? Facebook Friend Request Etiquette – Social Honeycomb

How well do you know your audience? – The Viral Garden